Brad Pitt Stars in Preachy Killing Them Softly
Watching Killing Them Softly, you can tell that some people in Hollywood are less than happy with the last four years of American politics. Something to do with Obama not punishing the banks enough, I guess. So to right that wrong and pump the fire of righteous indignation back into the American peoples veins in time for election season (oops), that ragtag group of political dissidentsThe Weinstein Companydecided to put 2008-era political radio on the soundtrack to almost every scene in their new gangster movie. Itshorrible.
The film starts with three bottom feeders planning and executing a robbery of an illegal poker game, framing the clubs owner (Ray Liotta), and throwing the New Orleans (but it could be anywhere) criminal economy out of whack. Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), a very collected hitman from somewhere else, flies in to murder everyone involved and restore order. Over the next hour and a half, he does so, to the sweet melodies of Obama, McCain, and Bushspeeches.
Im not nitpicking on some minor point here. It really is that bad. Killing Them Softly wants to be a dark crime comedy like Reservoir Dogs or In Bruges, but nothing kills the funny like unearned pretention. Imagine if Reagans A Time For Choosing speech played during the opening diner scene in Pulp Fiction, and you can see what Im talking about. The immediate saturation of background political media ensures that the film is dead on arrival. It raises an eyebrow in the jarring opening credits, kills the tension in the gambling den robbery, and slips into practically every murder, beating, and conversation from there on. At some point, one starts wondering if the point isnt that America is a corrupt busin! ess just like this mafia stuff, but that you turn into a sociopathic criminal if you follow the election cycles too closely. Why arent these mobsters listening to anything else? Its a good point if its the latter: after this movie ended, I wanted to cut Harvey Weinsteins earoff.
No, its not otherwise good, or even okay. Directed by Andrew Dominik, the Aussie behind the sedate western The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, it lurches between overwrought scenes of cynical brutality and airless dialogue between people we dont care about. When Dominik gets ahold of an image he likes, like Ray Liottas nasty wet hair as he takes a beating in the rain or the euphoric vision of a heroin addicts near overdose, he keeps pressing play until it has no impact left whatsoever. On the other hand, every conversation is shot like 90s TV, from two stiff angles with no energywhatsoever.
One could say that this is to make room for the actors, and the performances in Killing Them Softly deserve some credit. Much of the script apparently comes from the original novel by George Higgins, and its all scummy-funny criminal underworld schtick: You like to fuck old men in prison, blah blah. So nobodys gonna win an Oscar, but they do okay. Brad Pitt has fun with Cogan, as he takes a mullet/aviators/leather jacket combo unforgivable to my modern eyes and gives it some otherworldly swagger. Unknowns Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn play the dumb bottom feeders that start the whole mess; they convey bad breath and squirmy nihilism well. James Gandolfini shows up as a washed-up hitman accomplice, and the rush of nostalgia might be worth the ticket price alone for some people. Ditto for RayLiotta.
But the! condescending tone of the asinine direction undercuts whatever fun there is to be had. If you loved Jesse James, nobody can stop you, but you will regret giving this movie your money. If youre wondering if Im just being a snarky contrarian, know that despite its glowing Rotten Tomatoes score, Killing Them Softly got an F from leading audience polling firm Cinemascore. Good to know its not dying with a whimper at the box office: it deserves nothing less than a loud, ruthlessbutchery.
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