Movie review: Economics, by way of homicide in 'Killing Them Softly'

“Killing Them Softly” is the latest from writer-director Andrew Dominik and star Brad Pitt, who last collaborated on 2007’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” This time around, the duo’s source material is George V. Higgins’ 1974 novel, “Cogan’s Trade,” and the result is a deliberately paced crime thriller with aspirations to Oscar-dom. The film opens with two low-rent hoods, Frankie (Scoot McNairy from “Argo”) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn, “The Dark Knight Rises”) being recruited by Johnny “The Lizard” Amato (Vincent Curatola, TV’s “The Sopranos”) to rob an illegal poker game being run by the New Orleans mob.

The plan is (supposedly) foolproof, as the man in charge of the game, Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta, in the kind of role he could play in his sleep by now) is already under suspicion by his superiors for having robbed his own game once already. As long as Frankie and Russel can keep their heads and their stories straight, it should be an easy payday. What the Lizard and his hoods didn’t plan on is Cogan (played by Brad Pitt), a hitman enlisted by the mob to find and eliminate the parties involved in the robbery. Wry and cynical, Cogan is the sort of man who doesn’t believe in beating around the bush, going about his task with the air of one who has done this sort of thing too many times before. The tone of the film is darkly comic, interspersed with moments of extreme violence, in keeping with the spirit of the source material. The violence on display, elegant in its brutality, may be off-putting for some, but it works in the context of the story. Largely faithful, the only significant deviation here is the ham-fisted attempt by Dominik to update the plot by establishing parallelism between the main plot and the United States’ financial meltdown. With the original setting of 1970s Boston reinterpreted as 2008 Louisiana, election fever permeates the film. As the characters go about their respective business, news broadcasts on radio and TV (even in mob bars!) bludgeon the audience with the notion that economic chaos has occurred due to overt mismanagement, calling for extreme measures. Truth be told, the filmmakers needn’t have bothered. Higgins was a scribe of the highest order whose original plot–combined with the his pitch black sense of humor–was, on its own, commentary enough on the world and times we live in. Coming across as unnecessary, repetitive and entirely lacking in subtlety, the film version’s constant comparison of homicide to economic bailout quickly outstays its welcome. Fortunately, in addition to Pitt, Dominik has populated his film with experienced actors who are able to transcend the director’s soapbox politics. Richard Jenkins (TV’s “Six Feet Under”) plays the middleman (listed in the credits as “Driver”) between Cogan and the underworld powers-that-be. Nearly all of his scenes take place in the confines of his luxury sedan, where his and Pitt’s characters deliberate the proper methods of exacting gangland justice in tones so civil and matter-of-fact, they could just as easily be discussing the weather. These conversations are some of the best scenes in the movie, as Driver frets over his bosses’ bottom line, and Cogan is forced to negotiate his way around administrative red tape. Curatola’s fellow “Sopranos” alum James Gandolfini is likewise excellent as Mickey, a world-weary freelance hitman trying to drink away his marital troubles. Gandolfini is dependable as always, delivering several rambling Tarantino-esque monologues that reveal loads about his character while doing little to advance the actual plot. Gandolfini’s ability as an actor sells us on the speeches, with priceless payoff coming in the form of the often-bewildered looks he gets from Pitt’s Cogan. Awkward social commentary aside, “Killing Them Softly” is a well-structured film, aided in no small measure by the strength of its source material and the considerable combined skills of its performers. After having already received raves at Cannes, it would be surprising indeed if “Softly” failed to achieve Oscar gold. “Killing Them Softly” opens exclusively at Ayala Cinemas on December 5. — KDM, GMA News All photos courtesy of The Weinstein Company