Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly is sort of like if Quentin Tarantino had directed last year's cult-ish masterpiece Drive. It's a whole lot of talking (which Drive lacked) puncuated by extreme violence, and I'm more than okay with that. Directly after leaving the theater, I took to Twitter and made a pretty bold statement, calling Killing Them Softly "the best movie I'd seen so far this year." I may have jumped the gun just a tad because the more I think about the movie, the less it lives up to some of the earlier movies I've seen this year. Plus, if I'm thinking about it in terms of Tarantino, well, he's got his own movie coming out in the very near future that may or may not make Killing Them Softly look like a sunny day with a picnic and a walk in the park. Still, this is a damn good movie, make no mistake about that.

Directed by Andrew Dominik, the visionary behind one of my favorite movies of 2007, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Killing Them Softly starts with two bumbling petty crooks (Animal Kingdom's Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy) who find themselves tangled up in a plan to rob a high stakes private card game run by Markie (Ray Liotta). Markie robbed his own game a few years prior and got away with a ton of money but then started bragging about getting away with it. The thought behind robbing it again is that everyone will think Markie went and did it again. After the heist, a mob lawyer (Richard Jenkins) hires hitman Jackie (Brad Pitt) to come investigate and take out the guys behind the heist.

The set up is quite simple and everyone involved nails every aspect of the movie, although it's not without its flaws. Yes, I do get and love the very long dialogue scenes but some of them ran for just a bit too long (especially the scene of Mendelsohn tripping). Plus, they mention James Gandolfini's Mickey getting into a violent fight with a hooker but never show it. But maybe the movie already had enough violence, including, but not limited to a greusome, intense scene in which two guys beat the hell out of Markie. Then there is a scene with bullets flying through the windows of a car that is damn near poetic. Dominik, who directs the hell out of this movie, walks a thin line between the gritty violence and some stark, beautiful images. The fast paced city violence is a change of pace from Jesse James with it's sweeping panoramic nature shots, but this film is just as beautiful to watch as the other.

Acting wise, Killing Them Softly delivers. Pitt, of course, is fantastic as a cold hearted hitman. His performance is so understated and subtle that, at times, you forget you are watching a portrayal of a wicked sociopath. The other highlight for me was McNairy, who looks and talks just like Casey Affleck to the point where I thought it was him for a minute. It wouldn't surprise me, Affleck worked with Dominik and Pitt on Jesse James. But, McNairy has one scene that is so powerful, it excites me for what he has coming out in the future. Jenkins reserved lawyer, Liotta's desperate card shark, Gandolfini's pathetic drunken hitman and Mendelsohn's idiot junkie round out a great cast that is just absolutely stellar.

While the movie can get a bit repetitive, the great dialogue and extreme violence, not to mention the performances and Dominik's masterful direction more than make up for any flaws, and it has them, this movie possesses.

Grade: B+