Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly is a 2012 American neo-noir crime film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt, based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins. On May 22, 2012, the film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, receiving positive early reviews.^[4][5] The film is about three small-time crooks who rob a Mob-protected illegal gambling operation, which prompts the Mob to send in two hitmen, Jackie (Brad Pitt) and Mickey (James Gandolfini) to deal with the perpetrators.

Plot

In the fall of 2008, during both the American financial crisis and the presidential election campaign, an older man named Johnny "Squirrel" Amato (Vincent Curatola) plans to rob an illegal poker game. He enlists two younger men to do the robbery: Frankie (Scoot McNairy), a former business associate, and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), a heroin-addicted Australian expatriate who is stealing purebred dogs for money. Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), the proprietor of the poker ring, is revealed to have previously orchestrated an inside job by paying two men to rob his own illegal poker room. He holds up under rough questioning by the hitman Dillon (Sam Shepard), though later he openly admits his involvement to various criminals who laugh it off, and Markie suffers no retaliation. Squirrel anticipates that the Mafia will automatically blame Markie for the heist.

Frankie and Russell, though obviously amateurs, do the holdup and leave with the money. However, Driver (Richard Jenkins), an emissary for the Mafia, discusses the recent robbery with an acquaintance of Dillon, a hitman and mob enforcer named Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt). Although Jackie understands Markie was uninvolved in the recent heist, he believes Markie should be murdered in order to restore the mobsters' confidence in the local illegal gambling scene.

Upon completing the crime, Russell travels to Florida to sell the dogs. While in Florida, he inadvertently informs a man named Kenny Gill (Slaine) of his involvement in the heist while trying to recruit him as a drug dealer. Kenny informs Jackie, who deduces that Russell, Frankie, and Squirrel are the perpetrators. All of this occurs during a backdrop of televised speeches about the financial crisis given by then-President George W. Bush and then-Senator Barack Obama made during the 2008 US Presidential election.

Jackie carries out the hit on Markie himself, killing him in his car, but brings in another older hitman, Mickey Fallon (James Gandolfini), who is on parole in New York, to kill Squirrel. Jackie explains to Driver how he prefers "killing them softly"—shooting his victims from a distance, without warning, giving them no opportunity to experience fear or despair—and that his acquaintance with Squirrel risks complicating this approach.

Mickey postpones going through with his assigned hit, instead indulging in drunkenness and sex with prostitutes in a hotel room. During conversation with Jackie, Mickey also reveals that he has violated his parole, and doesn't seem to care about or really comprehend the consequences; instead he goes off on drunken tangents. It becomes clear to Jackie that the respected hitman has lost his nerve and ability to do his job. Jackie eventually decides to carry out the hit on Squirrel himself. He convinces Driver to arrange Mickey's arrest before the job has been completed.

Russell is arrested on a drug possession charge and deported; meanwhile, Jackie confronts Frankie and convinces him to trade Squirrel's whereabouts for his life. Jackie has Frankie drive him to Squirrel; upon reaching Squirrel's apartment complex, he kills Squirrel with a shotgun. After confirming Squirrel is dead, Jackie has Frankie drive him to get his car several hours away. Frankie becomes very nervous and begins speeding. Unable to get Frankie to slow down, Jackie takes over driving. Once they arrive at the parking garage, Jackie shoots Frankie in the head without warning. Jackie then wipes down any fingerprints he might have left and leaves the scene.

On the night of the presidential election, Jackie meets with Driver to collect his fee for the three hits. On the TV in the bar, Barack Obama is giving his election victory speech. Jackie sees that he has been paid $30,000. He alleges that at $10,000 each, Driver has underpaid him for the jobs—on the argument that it would have cost $15,000 to have Mickey kill Squirrel. Driver responds that Dillon charges ten, and tells Jackie to take it up with Dillon. Jackie tells Driver that Dillon died that morning. Referring to Obama's speech, Jackie says angrily, "This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community? Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America, you're on your own. America is not a country; it's just a business. Now fucking pay me."^[6] The film smash-cuts to black, leaving the issue unresolved.

Cast

• Brad Pitt as Jackie Cogan
• Scoot McNairy as Frankie
• Ben Mendelsohn as Russell
• Richard Jenkins as Driver
• James Gandolfini as Mickey
• Ray Liotta as Markie Trattman
• Sam Shepard as Dillon
• Slaine as Kenny Gill
• Vincent Curatola as Johnny Amato
• Max Casella as Barry Caprio
• Trevor Long as Steve Caprio
• Linara Washington as Hooker

Production

Killing Them Softly is based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins, a best selling crime novelist whose works include The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Cogan's Trade, like Higgins's other novels, takes place in Boston; although filmed in New Orleans area, characters in Killing Them Softly make several references to Boston area suburbs from the original novel. The film was written and directed by Andrew Dominik, who chose to update the setting of the story, saying "as I started adapting it, it was the story of an economic crisis, and it was an economic crisis in an economy that was funded by gambling—and the crisis occurred due to a failure in regulation. It just seemed to have something that you couldn't ignore."^[7]

The project was first announced in November 2010, when Brad Pitt was reported to be in talks for the lead role.^[8] Pitt joined the project the following month, and production was scheduled to begin in Louisiana in March 2011.^[9] Additional roles were cast in early 2011.^[10][11][12] Dominik asked Pitt if he was interested in the role via a text message; he replied "yes" and the matter was settled over half an hour.^[13]

Pre-production began in Louisiana in January 2011,^[14] and filming was underway by March 2011.^[15]

According to Garret Dillahunt, the film's first cut was two-and-a-half hours long. Dillahunt, who had a cameo in the film, did not make the final cut for the theatrical release.^[16]

Release

Killing Them Softly was scheduled to premiere on September 21, 2012; however, the US release date was delayed until November 30, 2012, to avoid competing with The Master and to improve its chances for award nominations.^[17] The film kept its original release date in other parts of the world, with the somewhat unusual result that it opened in the UK and India more than two months before the US opening.

The Weinstein Company distributed the film in the United States and Canada.

Home media

The film was released on March 26, 2013. The film was released in Australia earlier, on February 13,^[18] and on February 25 in the UK.^[19]

Reception

Box office

In its opening weekend, Killing Them Softly grossed a domestic total of $6,812,900. The film made $15,026,056 domestically and $22,904,409 internationally for a worldwide total of $37,930,465.^[20]

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a rating of 75% based on reviews from 213 critics, with an average rating of 6.8 out of 10. The site' critical consensus reads, "Killing Them Softly is a darkly comic, visceral thriller that doubles as a cautionary tale on capitalism, whose message is delivered with sledgehammer force."^[21] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score, the film received an average score of 64 out of 100, based on 42 critics. indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[22] However, on CinemaScore, audiences gave the film an average grade of "F" on an A+ to F scale.^[23]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 5 stars saying the film is a "compelling comment on economic bloodletting in the real world".^[24] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 4 stars describing it as "bleakly electrifying".^[25] Total Film awarded it 3 stars calling it "tough, stylish, violent and studded with stars" but countered that it "doesn’t quite get the job done".^[26]

Accolades

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Killing Them Softly.

• Killing Them Softly at the Internet Movie Database
• Killing Them Softly at AllMovie
• Killing Them Softly at Rotten Tomatoes
• Killing Them Softly at Metacritic
• Killing Them Softly at Box Office Mojo