Review: A listless mess of a mob movie, ‘Killing Them Softly’, kills you with pretentiousness. 

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‘Killing Them Softly‘ reunites actor Brad Pitt with director Andrew Dominik, who previously worked together on ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.’

‘Softly’,  (an adaptation of George V. Higgins 1974 novel ‘Cogan’s Trade‘ ), concerns hitman Jackie Hogan (Pitt ), hired to rub out two robbers of a mafioso poker game.

The  thieves in question are Frankie, ( Scoot McNairy  from ‘Monsters‘, and ‘Argo’), and Russell, a greasy junkie (played by ‘Animal Kingdom’s‘ Ben Mendelsohn). Both are way in over their head, reaching out in financial desperation with little thought of the aftermath.

But there is also the matter of who set up the robbery; Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta),is the prime suspect, as he admitted to knocking off one of his own games in the past.

Cogan sends for Mickey (James Gandolfini) to help him with his task. But Mickey is a hitman well past his prime, lost in a haze of booze and prostitutes.

Why Mickey is even in the film is a mystery, as he’s hardly used, and Gandolfini’s talents are wasted. This also goes for Liotta, and both are saddled with waterlogged dialogue. And boy does this film have too much dialogue.

The only scenes that have any sort of vibrancy involve Cogan and Driver, a mafia go-between played by Richard Jenkins. The two have a nice chemistry and dark witty repartee as they discuss the ins and outs of the criminal world.

‘Killing Them Softly‘ awkwardly shoehorns soundbites from both the Wall Street Collapse, and the transition from the Bush to Obama presidencies throughout the movie. This constant juxtaposition is agitating and distracting. Dominik’s parallels of economic collapse and organized crime are so heavy-handed and poorly executed, that it often feels like a pretentious student film.

‘Softly’ is novel in that it’s a mob movie shot in New Orléans. This was Pitt’s way of injecting money into that local economy. It was also an opportunity for Dominik to include the city’s rich landmarks and own economic hardships within the fabric of the story. Why he chooses not to, is a mystery and a missed opportunity. It looks like it could have been made anywhere.

There are a few moments of visual panache; a slow-mo execution has a certain grisly, spectral charm. The movie also has one of the most brutal beat downs I’ve ever seen.

But the narrative never stays on course, and is even more underserved by distracting musical selections. (i.e. Kitty Lester’s ‘Love Letters‘ during an execution, does nothing to elevate or illuminate the scene).

Cogan explains to Jenkins, that he likes to kill from a distance. He’s uncomfortable with the emotional anguish from a close quarters hit. But this whole premise turns out to be meaningless, making the story even more disingenuous.

This is the crux of this movie’s failure; for a movie full of so much talk, it has little to say. It fails as a social commentary and as a mob movie, making for an extremely turgid viewing and a waste of an ace cast.

• DIRECTOR/SCREENPLAY: Andrew Dominik
• CAST: Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Scoot McNairy
• RUNTIME: 97 min.
• RATING: R

You might like to check out my review of the ‘Boardwalk Empire’ finale, a mob drama that actually delivered the goods.