Killing Them Softly

Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta) runs a lucrative illegal poker game that he allegedly robbed several years ago. Ex-con Squirrel (Vincent Curatola) is certain that if the game is robbed again, Markie will take the blame for it. He then recruits his nervous protégé Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Frankie’s ne’er do well friend Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) to do the deed. In the aftermath, the mob calls in hitman Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) to finger the culprits and mete out justice, a task that becomes increasingly frustrating and complicated over time.

Directed and written by Andrew Dominik, Killing Them Softly is a jarringly odd cinematic chimera. The plot comes courtesy of Cogan’s Trade, a 1974 crime novel by the late George V. Higgins, but the setting and thematic inspiration are rooted in the 2008 financial crisis. The result is that 70s cars, 70s fashion, and tough-guy dialogue share the screen with allusions to “recession pricing” and economic speeches from George W. Bush and Barack Obama on nearly every television and radio. Dominik’s message is obvious: the savagery of the criminal economy (illegal poker games and all) is a microcosm of what goes on in the legitimate world, but the stylistic idiosyncrasy with which that message is presented (gunfire one moment, a conversation over drinks the next, and a presidential speech after that) makes it impossible to take seriously.

Fortunately, though Killing Them Softly blunders as a “message movie,” not all hope is lost. For starters, it is perfectly cast. Pitt is convincing as the ruthless, competent, ultra-professional Cogan. He is complemented by James Gandolfini as a washed-up alcoholic colleague and Richard Jenkins as a nameless, put-upon mob bureaucrat. The lack of female characters is perplexing, but it fits with the film’s general audacity.

Another noteworthy point is the film’s constant juggling of moods. Though the plot and setting both scream “high stakes,” Dominik weaves a surprising amount of dark humor into the presentation. Whether its Jenkins’ character admonishing Cogan (the killer he hired) for smoking or Russell trying to corral a half-dozen dogs as part of a failed scheme, there are fitfully amusing moments amid the bloodshed. But this too undermines the film’s efficacy as an economic critique.

Killing Them Softly doesn’t make easy or conventional choices, and while that’s commendable, the end result (including a finale that resolves nothing) is more than a bit disappointing.

7.25/10