Wonderfully offbeat film!

Overrated

Fresh and Exciting

Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.

This paragraph is a quite a tangent, but, if you are interested in seeing this movie, I highly suggest you read it. This is not, and I mean NOT (N-O-T), an action movie. There are some scenes with a bit of action in them, but they're all very brief. This movie is a slow- moving thriller, and is very reliant on it's dialogue.So, I just saw Killing Them Softly recently, and these are my thoughts.Killing Them Softly is a Crime Thriller that does not focus on the glorification, nor the extreme shame, that the actual Crime gets in other movies. This movie is actually about the people that commit those Crimes. Killing Them Softly is interesting, due to the fact that almost every single character is a terrible person, who has done terrible things, but, they are also one of the most strangely relate-able bunch of characters I've seen in a while. Every single character has at least something going for them, and, despite their aberrant flaws, it's shocking when something happens to them. I also really enjoyed the little bits of Dark Humor in this film (at least, that's what I thought it was), the performances (especially from Brad Pitt), were really good, and the cinematography was decent.However, this movie is NOT perfect! Although there are more flaws if you nitpick it enough (as with anything), there is one main flaw I found this movie: it's not-so great presentation of story. Don't get me wrong, this film has a very interesting story, and when it opens up, it actually provokes a bit of thought... however, that stuff didn't hit me until more than half-way through the film. The way the filmmakers chose to write the story is very troublesome in the bits and pieces before that more-than-half-way mark, mainly because it's pretty hard to follow. Throughout the opening, I kept saying to myself 'Okay, now you've lost me', which is a bad sign.In total, I'm glad I saw Killing Them Softly. Perfect? No, but not as mediocre as some people will tell you it is.

This film could have been so good. It has Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta in main roles, but it never really came together. I was vastly disappointed when I watched this.Firstly, I was severely disappointed with Gandolfini's contribution who hardly appears in this film, despite being a phenomenal actor who was one reason why the Sopranos was so good.I also felt that the film tried way too hard in being arty and the time and effort it put into this could have been better spent elsewhere.Maybe I'm being unfair, this film wasn't all bad. It was funny at times. It made me laugh on occasion. Once or twice. Once.Read my full review here: http://goo.gl/pFHffd

This neo-noir crime-thriller, directed by Andrew Dominik and based on the novel 'Cogan's Trade' by George V. Higgins follows a story set in the fall of 2008 during the American financial crisis and the presidential election campaign, of Johnny Amato (played by Vincent Curatola) who hires two amateur criminals Frankie (played by Scott McNairy) and Russell (played by Ben Mendelsohn) to assist in a robbery of an illegal poker game run by Markie Trattman (played by Ray Liotta). After successful pulling off the robbery, Ben and Russell kidnap Markie and brutally dispatch him. This gains the attention of mafia ambassador Driver (played by Richard Jenkins) who hires local hit-man Jackie Cogan (played by Brad Pitt) to go after the criminals and bring them in the justice.The title derives from the main character's unique way of taking down the bad guys. This movie is definitely no instant classic nor does it try to be, it manages to stand tall above its flaws. Brad Pitt is brilliant as ever, and his portrayal in the main role is deeply engrossing enough to keep viewers attention. Ray Liotta who is well known for his performance in the classic crime-drama 'Goodfellas' finds his time to shine here as well. Both these actors manage to stand out from its slow paced plot. The story begins with a promise and the characters remain solid upon introduction. The main flaw, however, comes from the slow pacing of the plot. The film starts at a solid pace and brings fair interest to the characters and the themes of economic collapse including political commentary on the 2008 presidential election campaign when Barack Obama was running for his first term. The idea of the plot is a robbery of a poker game involving illegal gambling to bring down the criminal economy, and the concept is best stated by one of the character's quotes "America is not the country, its a business". The whole concept however, is a bit confusing and somewhat hard to follow. These flaws though, are made up by some incredibly performances by the cast and great cinematography, and an okay direction by Andrew Dominik. Some scenes work well and generate plenty of suspense, others not so much.Killing Them Softly, thought suffering from pacing issues, stands as a firm neo-noir thriller. This is not a film that will appeal to everyone and certainly not appeal to every Brad Pitt fan, but it is worth watching. Just don't go into this movie expecting something like Scarface or Goodfellas, otherwise you will likely be disappointed.

When I heard they'd made a movie based on Cogan's Trade, I was eager to see it even tho the cockamamie title put me off. I consider Friends of Eddie Coyle to be one of the all-time classic gangster films & always wondered why none of George V Higgins' other crime novels had ever made it to film. Most of Higgins' plot exposition emerges thru dialog anyhow, so his books seem ready-made for film.Killing Them Softly turned out to be not quite in the same league as Eddie Coyle, but it might have been if they hadn't tried to fix what wasn't broken. Admittedly, a large part of my dissatisfaction with many a movie stems from knowing the books they're based on. Having just re-read Cogan's Trade for maybe the 6th time or so, I knew the story inside out. That's always a problem when they base a movie on one of your favorite books: you've built up clear images of each character & setting in your mind. You also know what's coming next, which can rob the action of considerable impact. Still, if the book's good, you want to savor it on film.This was well cast & acted, with Brad Pitt as hit-man/fixer Jackie Cogan, James Gandolfini as a subcontracted killer reluctant to ply his trade & Vincent Curatola in a small but pithy part as the conniving Johnny Amato. Higgins' original 1974 novel was transposed to the Obama era, which certainly makes sense from a producer's standpoint — you save money not shelling out for '70s cars or masking anachronistic street scenery — & maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. Not what I would have preferred, but the story wasn't specifically tied into the '70s, so yeah, OK. And I do have to admit those voice-overs of Obama justifying the infamous Wall Street bailout added a nice touch of irony.My real gripe, what really spoils it for me, is that absolutely extraneous monologue in the bar at the end. Up till then, they'd stuck pretty close to the original & made a pretty decent movie out of it. But then they have Cogan react to a televised Obama speech by spouting off about Thomas Jefferson being a slave-owner & America being not a country but a business. Not that I disagree with the political sentiment expressed, but it just doesn't belong, it seems to have just parachuted in out of nowhere.Presumably they tacked this on in a gratuitous attempt to make the movie somehow more relevant for today's audiences, but it adds nothing to the story & today's relevance very quickly becomes yesterday's obscurity anyhow. Higgins' real mastery was always in the dialog, but some utterly deluded hack with a political axe to grind thought he could improve on Higgins. The sad part is that those in charge — who should have known better — let him try.