Killing Them Softly Reviews

Andrew Dominik's Killing Them Softly is a crime thriller with a film noir flavor.The story is prime for a number of characters, but unfortunately there just isn't enough meat to fill 90 minutes of screen time. The pacing is moderate to slow, and the film fills the time with some long-winded dialogue that does get cumbersome in a few places; nonetheless, the plot does contain enough intriguing moments to surpass mediocrity.The violence is brutal, yet, careful with its usage. Killing Them Softly picks its spots to pull out the guns and punches.Brad Pitt delivers a fitting performance for the most solid character of the film. The rest of the cast is filled out nicely with the likes of Scoot McNairy, James Gandolfini, and Richard Jenkins.Despite some of its downsides, Killing Them Softly delivers at more moments than expected. "Now f*****' pay me."

Killing Them Softly is gritty, bloody, and pulpy with strong performances from a well rounded cast, but lacks the strong story to pull together all of the individual pieces that work so well by themselves. The dialogue seems pulled directly from a Tarantino movie, with characters spewing out profanities like it's their day job and talking about things that don't have anything to do with the story whatsoever, just before an unexpected act of violence happens. It's done effectively, although no one does it better than Tarantino. There's some truly horrifying violence in this film too, although one scene is operatic and truly a beautiful action sequence. In typical gangster movie fashion, many of the characters backstab each other and so on. You've seen this all done before (and better), although Killing Them Softly does have some pleasures, mainly Pitt in a quality performance exuding confidence and deadly skills as a killer for hire. If you like this sort of movie it is probably worth your time. The capitalism angle that truly rears its head during the final scenes was unnecessary, in my opinion.

A heavy-handed, plodding crime drama concerning a mysterious enforcer (Brad Pitt) who is assigned to a small town to help restore order after a couple of dumb criminals rob a mob during a card game. Quite honestly, this is one of the worst films I have seen in some time. I can't really knock the acting, especially Pitt who is his regular outstanding self, but the story just is not in any sort of hurry to go anywhere. The characters themselves are unlikable, there is nothing that makes you care about anything that is happening, and the film seems to think that Pitt looking like a badass walking around is really, really cool, and all these things show director Andrew Dominek's lack or urgency or focus to his movie. Then, to top it all off, the film has the balls to tie in politics to the whole thing with snip-its of political speeches by Bush and Obama (it takes place in the middle of election season in 2008), to try to make its self-aggrandizing point that crime is a business just like any other in the world and that only the strong, and smart, survive in a cut-throat culture. Without question the worst movie I can recall Brad Pitt being in, and with him not in the cast, I'm pretty sure the movie would have skipped theaters all together and went straight to DVD like it should have.

Let's start with what the movie does right. It has some really good acting performances and the violence is Tarantino-esque (brief but bold). It is also well shot and at times it is pretty funny. Unfortunately the movie does a lot wrong. It is unbearably slow, with many exchanges between characters that are extremely pointless. It tries to be a "stinging social commentary" on Capitalism but its message is contrived and not as powerful as it hopes to be. It takes an hour and thirty-seven minutes to make a point that any liberal arts college freshman could make in a minute. This would work well in a book, just as the source material did, but there is a reason we watch films and not read them. There just isn't enough going on up on the screen that makes this movie worth watching.

An instant crime classic. The best movie of it`s kind since No Country for Old Men. A well-crafted, well-character developed and immensely impressive piece of work that's razor-sharp and brutally funny. It has a seductive and razor-sharp groove that`s all its own. A wickedly gripping, dazzling and pulse-pounding crime-thriller. This is strong, confident, brilliant and brutal film-making at it`s best. Director, Andrew Dominik crafts a superb and hard-boiled crime film that's packed with a lot of star power, suspense and dark humor. A masterpiece. It`s explosive, wickedly funny and smart film that has the love of dialogue, grim atmosphere, shady characters, dry wit and violent nature that would make the likes of The Coen Brothers, Guy Ritchie and Quentin Tarantino proud. A stylish, pistol-packing, tongue-in-cheek, and hard-boiled thrill-ride. A tremendously entertaining and wildly cool edge of your seat movie. I loved it. This movie hits the jackpot. A great all-star cast who all deliver solid work here. Brad Pitt is at the top of his game here, he gives one of his best and most compelling performances ever. Pitt is unforgettable. Richard Jenkins is terrific. James Gandolfini is excellent. Ray Liotta is marvelous. Ben Mendelsohn and Scoot McNairy are exceptional, they have great and decently funny chemistry

Killing Them Softly is a very good crime film with a varied cast of talented actors. Every cast member brings something terrific to the screen, and the plot is engaging from start to finish. Andre Dominik who is a brilliant director and has crafted two stunning films before, Chopper and The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, crafts this underrated film. Killing Them Softly is a film that did not deserve the flack it has received. I thought that this was a very well acted movie with many standout performances and a very story. Dominik's films are always well structured and have great, memorable characters that are well written and thought out. Killing Them Softly is a well layered movie that is engaging from the first frame onwards and manages to keep you interested due to its cast and story. The film is kind of misleading the sense that by the trailer, you'd expect an action film; well this is not that type of film. Andrew Dominik opts to create a crime drama with a few bits of humor thrown into its plot to make it stand out. This is a taut, riveting crime picture that manages to stand out among others in the genre and is brilliantly directed by a filmmaker who is always keen on creating as memorable cinematic experience. With another great film under his belt, I can't wait to see what Andrew Domink will direct next. One thing is for sure he bursts of talent, and Killing Them Softly is a surprising picture that definitely doesn't deserve the negative press it has received.

Too much talking, not enough acting, and not enough substance. Don't waste your time with "Killing Them Softly." Grade: D

TAKE A DRAG AND FEEL THE BURN! This is a film you'll watch and wonder about many things. The pacing is deliberate but to what purpose. Its a european style being used in american cinema. A beautifully shot film that is any ADD person's nightmare. Scenes would last for minutes rather than seconds like other crime dramas. It takes its time and gets its message across. A film that DESERVES more attention and MULTIPLE viewings, Killing Them Softly is an underrated gem and will end up being a classic in years to come.

So, Brad Pitt and director Andrew Dominik collaborate again after their ethereal western "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford". They now attempt a crime movie that runs over an hour less than their previous effort but in some ways feels just as drawn out. That's not to say that's it's unsuccessful. It has received criticism from many corners but personally I think expectations and preconceived ideas have led to a misunderstanding with this one.
Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) are a couple of smalltime crooks for hire. They get a job to hold up a high-stakes, mafia run, card game that's overseen by middle-man Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta). As Markie has openly admitted to holding up a game in the past, he becomes the obvious suspect but something doesn't quite add up. To clear up the mess, outside enforcer Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is brought in the get to the bottom of it.
Films that fall into the crime genre will always have a certain level of expectation about them. It must be difficult for a director to try and establish a new format when there is a demand that they follow a particular formula. This adaptation of the George V. Higgins novel "Cogan's Trade" is exactly the type of film that has been criticised for it's lack of urgency and has suffered in it's comparison with previous genre classics. Personally, I admire Dominik's attempt at crafting something different here, and despite a glacial pace, I still found it gripping. This is a film that focuses less on action and more on talking and it's entirely understandable why some didn't appreciate it, but for me, the talking was the action and that's thanks to solid performances from everyone involved. Every actor is as good as the other and it's through their strong, and lengthy, exchanges of dialogue that each of them are able to shine; McNairy and Mendelsohn carry the weight of the first part of the story with two very different but equally unlikable low-life's; Liotta plays a perfect, desperate middle-man; Jenkins epitomises the business side of things and Gandolfini is a perfect display of regret and melancholia from a hit-man who's lost his touch. Ultimately, though, it's the reserved central performance from Pitt who commands. Arguably, he's got less to work with but his subtlety is key in expressing the coldness and stark reality of the business that these people operate in.
Of course - as is now expected of Dominik - he doesn't just deliver a formulaic gangster story. Instead, he infuses it with allegory and makes a social commentary on the financial state of America. Throughout the film there are, ironic, radio and television broadcasts of political speeches and discussions about the economy and reminders of how America is the land of opportunity. It's a, less than subtle, device but one that worked quite well. On slightly closer inspection, the criminals that roam this underbelly of modern America are no less disingenuous or manipulative than the politicians in office. They just happen to be conducting their business on a lesser scale. At one point Pitt's Jackie Cogan even describes his cohorts as "Corporate mentality gangsters". That aside, this is still a crime film and as a result, it's not adverse to rolling up it's sleeves and getting it's hands dirty. There may be only sporadic moments of action but when they do appear they are brutally delivered and some of the violence displayed on-screen is wince inducing.
Much like the aforementioned western collaboration between Dominik and Pitt this film dares to incorporate a sociopolitical commentary throughout it's genre. It's unconventional but very effective nonetheless and the last line of the film sums up it's theme perfectly... "America is not a country, it's just a business. Now fucking pay me."

In America you're on your own.

Good movie! A fulfilling elegant and stylish black comedy. The script, acting, direction were all superbly done, and should be commended. Although the film can be very pessimistic, it does have a message, one that should resonate in the near future. The whole cast was extremely effective and highly believable. However Brad Pitt is simply terrific, and deserves much acclaim that could come to him. Just like The Assassination of Jesse James, Pitt plays subtle, but yet powerful sociopath and it ripples the film throughout. James Gandolfini Gandolfini is excellent as a boozy, broken old assassin. Ray Liotta offers a grotesque reprise of the type of manic gangster he played in his younger years in Goodfellas. Richard Jenkins is solemn as ever as the killer's contact, relaying back messages from the Mob and trying to beat Cogan down on prices. All the men here are relentlessly sexist and foul-mouthed. This movie was done in a style that was quite unique from your standard issue shoot 'em up or Scorsese gangster movie in a number of ways I found refreshing. It slowed down the pace of dialogue scenes to a relatable and believable level, made the violence far more realistic, and didn't overdo the music. Those who can't handle too much, or too realistic of violence won't like this movie. Some might feel the dialogue makes the movie drag just a bit, but if you like realistic filmmaking, they've made it feel as if you're sitting in on actual conversations. Don't be deterred by the negative reviews, but don't go in expecting the recycling of Scorsese and Copella. This a picture of its own kind, of its own vision. Let it move you.

Three amateurs stickup a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the hitman hired to track them down and restore order. Killing Them Softly also features Richard Jenkins , James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and Vincent Curatola. Max Casella, Trevor Long, Slaine and Sam Shepard also make appearances.

Although Dominik takes too much time setting up things and sometimes goes into visual and musical onanistic territories, the plot unravels and concludes in a very satisfactory way. it's been a long time since a stylish and hardcore neo noir came out. As cold as a razor blade.

I haven't liked a slightest bit of director Andrew Dominik's earlier films Chopper and Assassination of Jesse James. Those films were pretentious and cold works that left oddly bad taste in my mouth. Dominik's Killing Them Softly is unfortunately none better than his earlier works and it has that same cynical and artsy touch of his printed all over.
While cinematography by talented Greg Fraser and impressive sound design by Leslie Shatz are right there on a spot, it is Dominik's way of handling his material that comes off as a way too distracting. Some of the visual solutions are only annoying and take focus away from the film's main storyline. It also seems that Dominik is way too in love of his own dialogue. There are conversations that go on forever and some of them exist only here to mke this film look and sound cool or maybe even comedic. I mostly found them pointless. Brad Pitt does have charisma and certain confidence as an actor and his performance gave some of the dialogue meat on it's bones. His performance is by far the film's strongest element and give it at least something else to chew on than ugly torture scenes.
Killing Them Softly has very much potential as a film. There are very good team behind it but somehow Dominik cannot lift his film under it's heavy weight. This is an example of a film that actually does not root for any of it's characters or which ends up being a story about nothing or no one. Too bad, because this could have been a gritty and original crime film with a top notch production team and a highly impressive cast. Saddly it let its chances to slip away become becomes a missed opprtunity without a pounding heart or a real soul.

With a cast of stars including Pitt, Gandolfini and Liotta and based on a crime novel involving the mafia, hits and heists you would expect this to be excellent, so is it? yes! well no, hmmm...errr yeeaah...kinda.

The plot in this film is really very simple and pretty thin. Ray Liotta's character sets up his own poker ring operation for the loot and gets away with it scot free. Sometime later two losers do the same thing to Liotta's poker ring and they get away with all the loot...putting Liotta's character under suspicion. Pitt's hitman character is then brought in to sort out the whole situation and find out who stuck up the poker ring for a second time. Which I might add he manages quite easily it seems.

That's the game in a nutshell and like Pitt's acting its basic. This film is semi decent yet flawed, flawed in the sense that the plot is stretched out to 1h 37min with lots of pointless dialog. Most of which bares no relation to the actual plot but just drones on. The main sequences guilty of this are the dialogs between Pitt and Gandolfini, the latter of which just goes on and on about screwing hookers whilst drinking and not much else.

To be honest the plot is half way complete early into the film, Pitt has his job to do and it doesn't need this long to watch him do it. Don't get me wrong though the acting is terrific throughout from almost all players involved...well the stars, accept Pitt. Liotta is turned from tough guy to punch bag in this mobster story and he does it well. Gandolfini looks every bit like a real mafioso head honcho year by year and does what he does best despite the meaningless rambling dialog he has and Jenkins is solid n stoic as ever.

For me this film does highlight how very average an actor Pitt is surrounded by some serious acting stalwarts. Again don't get me wrong, Pitt does OK in his role and in any less of a film he would be fine but this is a grown up mobster flick and he just doesn't match up. I'm not really too sure why they would cast the guy in this type of film really.

One sequence I don't get with Pitt's character is when he whacks one guy...but using a shotgun?!. Not only that but he does it from a distance!, surely shotguns aren't that effective from a distance and surely carrying out a hit this way would attract a lot of attention from say...the noise?!. Not to mention the mess and damage, ah what do I know.

The other thing that bugged me was Scoot McNairy and his annoying tone of voice, the guy sounded like 'Shaggy' outta 'Scooby Doo' for pete's sake!! geeeez!. Didn't think much of Ben Mendelsohn either really. He's an Aussie actor and plays an Aussie in the film, the guy just didn't fit in the story a tall, typical US hoods and an Aussie, nah.

The profanity count is high and the violence is brutal, it may make you wince, possibly even jump at times but there isn't lots of it. As this takes place in 2008 there is also snippets from the real event of President Obama's election campaign and victory, why? I'm not so sure as it has no real relevance to the plot or its outcomes. There is a political message in here as Pitt's character states 'America's not a country, its just a business', its all about $$$.

The film is well directed whilst visually it looks slick and gritty, but its trying to hard to be a Scorsese product or trying to hard to be something unique and different. Either way it doesn't really make it mainly down to the fact there isn't much of a plot to speak of.

What happens when three idiots think they are smart and decide to rob a mod protected poker game? Well, it doesn't end well for them. That's the basic premise of "Killing Them Softly". After the morons rob the game, Brad Pitt is brought in to find out who they are and to kill them. Times are hard and the rough economy has had an effect on the mob to, so they need every cent they can get. I thought this would be more of an action/thriller type movie, but it's not. It's really more of a drama about how the economy has effected the mob and the way they do business. It's still good, as Brad Pitt is fantastic. He comes off as cool and scary at the same time. The rest of the cast is good, even though no one really shines as well as Pitt does. I would have liked this to have been a little longer with more action, but it's good for what it is. I especially loved the very end of this movie. Has one of the best finishing lines to a movie of the year. Worth a watch, just expect more of a drama/talking type movie instead of a straight up mob-esque movie.

A smart thriller that makes an intelligent comparison between the mafia and the American economic system, even though the analogy is also a bit heavy-handed. An extremely tense and brutal film with a deliberate pace and great performances from a sharp cast.

Question: Do you ever watch a film and think to yourself while watching it, "What the...? You are confused, a little dazed and your head is spinning trying to figure out what the filmmakers are trying to say. Well, that's what happened to me while viewing Brad Pitt's latest film, Killing Them Softly.

In fact, it has been a couple of days since seeing the film, and I am still trying to figure out what the heck I watched. Was it a mob movie? Was it trying to make a political statement? Was it a comment on current socio-economic conditions in America? Or was Killing Them Softly trying to discuss all of the above?

The movie is set in New Orleans where three wanna-be criminals want to make some quick cash off an illegal gambling ring. We follow the pair that will hit the poker game, the man who runs the illegal card game, and soon others who are affected by heist. That seems like a standard plot but something was woven in throughout the film that made it different. During many of the scenes, which are mostly made up of conversations between two men, in the background are a variety political speeches on television and radio (actual footage, I believe).

Killing Them Softly was reminiscent of a play rather than a big-time Hollywood Mob film. As I said the film is a series of mostly dialogue-rich conversations between two individuals, sitting, waiting, planning or discussing details of illegal activities and consequences. When two characters were chattering on, the background political rhetoric was distracting which may have been the intention of the filmmakers. Or it was placed there to lay down the groundwork of what each scene was trying to prove with said dialogue. It was unclear.

Unfortunately, the intermingling of the two mediums didn't amalgamate well for me. I tried too hard to pay attention to what the politicians, from both sides, spouted all the while trying to listen and watch the characters on the screen. Many points were lost. I kept thinking, "This may require another viewing." But I sort of was bored through many of the conversations since most of them consisted of misogynistic babble, idiotic planning of criminal activities and generic mafia-style business. Don't get me wrong, I am not a feminist nor supercilious with any moral high ground. (Heck, my favorite film of ALL TIME is Apocalypse Now.) But I was just bored, the story lagged, and it was only 97 minutes long.

On the flip side - Killing Them Softly won me over with the last scene of the film. In fact, it was the final words spoken by Brad Pitt's character, Jackie, which brought it altogether. It was brilliant, succinct, direct, and it made me immediately like the film. I cannot recall another film doing that - EVER! Will I watch it again? Maybe but probably not, but I am happy I did see it now.

Also, there were a few interesting camera tricks/special effects that stood out in Killing Them Softly. The film was not riddled with them but two of them really stuck in my mind: An opening and closing of a door (simple) and a something that happens at an intersection (not so simple). That is all I will say on that.

Lastly, Killing Them Softly, although not slated as a comedy, there are a few irreverent jokes and absurdities in the film that might make you smile or even giggle a bit.

Based on the book by George V. Higgins: Cogan's Trade (Vintage Crime/Black Lizard)

Throw style and nihilism into a blender and "Killing Them Softly" is the end result. Andrew Dominik's latest is one of those crime films that may sound familiar on paper, but due to it's writer/ director's unconventional execution feels fresh and in bursts uncompromising.

I had great hopes for fledgling filmmaker Andrew Dominik after seeing his extraordinary 2007 film "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." But his follow-up, "Killing Them Softly," is a disaster, a good candidate for Worst Film of 2012. I don't know what happened during the writing and filming of this. Dominik really lost his way.

With an inventive set-up and final sequence, "Killing Them Softly" has a devastatingly hard time making the meat of its plot progress into anything remotely interesting. And while there are some stylized visuals here, which once again display writer/director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) as a filmmaker to keep an eye on, "Killing Them Softly", as an entire film, is a meandering bore-fest that leads to a fantastic, but so not worth your time and trouble, final speech about the economic structure of America today, from Brad Pitt.

Set against the backdrop of the economic crisis of the late 2000's and the Obama-McCain presidential race, "Killing Them Softly" attempts to tell the story of Jackie Cogan (played by Pitt) an enforcer sent to kill a few blue collar robbers, after a mob protected card game gets held up. But instead, what this movie is essentially about is a town full of morally or physically disgusting mobsters and lowlife's, having conversations. So, if you think "Killing Them Softly" is going to be a violent, mafia film, in the same vein as a Scorsese production, while you would be partially right (when this movie is violent, it is violent beyond belief and Dominik does do an excellent job of creating a world that compliments his dingy characters) you may be blindsided by how much of this movie is based it in the minutiae of odd and far too tedious male conversations (please don't think "Pulp Fiction"). Male conversations, which touch on everything from, different ways to degrade women during sex, to bestiality; with the kicker being, said conversations are more of a waste of time than morbidly interesting.
Other than being an utterly uneventful mob film steeped in heavily misogynistic rants, the major flaw here occurs when Dominik stupidly attempts to make a simplistic revenge story more layered than it needed to be. For example, throughout this movie there are constant (and I do mean constant) reminders that all of the events happening take place during the economic crisis. There are even sequences where characters are watching a FOX News report on the economic crisis, go into their cars and hear a similar report on the radio, rob a card game that for some reason has CNN playing in the background, get back into their car and continue listening to the economic report from earlier and finally eat at a diner, that instead of playing music, has a television turned to an eerily familiar MSNBC economic crisis diatribe. In saying all of this, are we to deduce that the mobster motivated plot of "Killing Them Softly" is supposed to be an allegory symbolizing how the US government conducted themselves during the economic crisis? And, are the characters of this film meant to represent certain well known players in the government and corporate world of a few years ago? Well as much as I would like to give a clear answer to this question, I really couldn't figure it out myself, simply because everything about how Dominik handles the story, the conversations, the characters actions, are so damn obscure, that, as an audience member, to create any sort of parallels to the economic crisis as the bases for this particular plot would be a stretch. All I could really decipher was that Dominik was trying to get some kind of sociopolitical point across, but hell if I (or anyone who sat in the same theater I did) knew what it was.

The Acting: No Oscar nomination for Brad Pitt this year. To say that Pitt does about two seconds of noteworthy acting here would be a very accurate statement. Don't get me wrong, he plays the main character and in turn is in almost every scene (after the first 20 minutes) BUT as the movie progresses, it becomes apparent that Pitt has nothing really captivating to say or do until the very last scene. Furthermore, until this final scene happens, Pitt merely plays a poor SNL caricature of himself. In fact, his acting is so (surprisingly) mediocre here, that in many of the scenes, all containing actors (Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, James Gandolfini) that physically take on a gritty mob or street thug appearance, Pitt seems out of place as the slick haired, tan enforcer for hire. In fact, the best performance here comes from McNairy, who is really the only believable character in the entire movie...Oh, and I almost forgot. Richard Jenkins does nothing here. If you want to see a good Richard Jenkins performance from a movie that came out in 2012, watch "The Cabin in the Woods".

Final Thought: Maybe the most surprising thing here is the fact that "Killing Them Softly" is not a long movie at all; with a runtime of 97 minutes. But Dominik makes 90 of these minutes seem like an eternity, with a script that was adapted from a George V. Higgins novel in a purposefully dull manner, while using thematic elements to bludgeon his audience over the head in a movie scored by the droning of political talking heads. In short, it's not like I would rather go through another economic crisis than watch "Killing Them Softly" again, but let's just say, it's not a wonder why this movie tanked at the box office.

Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland

Follow me on Twitter @moviesmarkus

A funny thing happened while watching Killing Them Softly, the latest film from writer/director Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). After an hour, I noticed a couple people stand up and leave, never to return. Then another and another like permission had been communally brokered. I counted ten walkouts at my showing, which was more than I had at Cloud Atlas, a film that I can at least understand the possible exodus. But this? It also got a rare F grade from CinemaScore, joining the ranks of The Devil Inside, Wolf Creek, and The Box. Before you put that much stock in what is essentially a movie going exit poll, Alex Cross was given an A grade from audiences. But why all the venomous hate? I can only theorize that the mainstream audience feels it was sold a bill of goods, a crime thriller with one of Hollywood's biggest stars. The audience did not want to go on the lengthy talky detours. They wanted people to get dead. Whatever the reason, Killing Them Softly has killed its audience, who choose not to go softly in their disapproval.

Set amidst the economic meltdown of 2008, Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Frankie (Ben Mendelsohn) are two lowlife thugs hired to rob a mob-affiliated card game. The trick is that local gangster Markie (Ray Liotta) had previously paid a group of guys to rob his own card game, fleecing his own customers. In his drunken revelry, Markie admitted as such to his pals. Now the situation is ripe for exploitation. Because any future robberies will have their suspicions pinned firmly on Markie, whether he had anything to do with them or not. As a result, no one is gambling, the public has lost confidence in the markets, and the mob needs to get things back to business. Jackie (Brad Pitt) is called in to make that happen. He's a professional killer, who prefers to kill at a distance, without all those messy emotions. He has to trace the culprits responsible and give them the reckoning they have coming.

From a plot standpoint, Killing Them Softly is pretty thin. It's just about the ramifications of two nitwits robbing a card game. This lack of narrative depth will rankle most filmgoers, but I didn't mind it so much because Dominik uses the crime thriller veneer to examine the sheer ugliness of a criminal lifestyle. This is a pretty character-driven crime flick, and it has to be when there's a malnourished plot. It takes some lengthy sidesteps, notably with James Gandolfini's (Zero Dark Thirty) character, Mickey. He's supposed to be a professional, but the man is a complete wreck. He's belligerent to those in service positions (waiters, prostitutes), chronically drunk, and weirdly empathetic for his struggling wife, yet seemingly powerless to change his life's downward slide into self-medicated self-destruction. Mickey is the ghost of Christmas Future, the vision of what this lifestyle does to people who make a living out of it, who actually live into their retirement age. The two young crooks, Frankie and Russell, are idiots yes, but even when they have money their lives are so empty. Russell is so disgusting, sweating profusely, that you can practically taste his stank. Frankie is a little more cognizant of the danger he's in, and yet the moron doesn't leave town after his big score. I'd think that's the first thing you do when you rip off the mob. The day-to-day anxiety of a life of crime is just not worth the effort. You constantly have to look over your shoulder, a life dominated in paranoia, where every stranger or furtive glance could have sinister meaning. Even when you make money, you're theoretically taking money away from someone else's profit, and these are the kind of people that don't take kindly to friendly competition. This is no enviable, glamorous life.

I think Killing Me Softly would be a better, easily more satisfying movie had it eschewed the attempts at extra weight and commentary. It's no surprise that the scenes that follow a more traditional crime thriller route are the best. There's palpable tension when Frankie and Russell are in over their heads. The conflict is prevalent and the suspense is nicely stretched out, notably during the card game robbery. Being neophytes, you don't know what they're liable to do but you can bet it won't be smart. This is when the movie is most alive, most engaging, and most entertaining. When it plays it straight, and explores the sliding power plays at stake in a world of cash and guns, it can be a nasty but taut little movie. I'm just sorry that Dominik took a functional crime thriller and gave it an extra sheen of Important Things to Say ("America's not a country. It's a business."). The political parallels never feel more than tacked on attempts to grope for deeper meaning. Oh I get it, I understand the comparison of mob enforcers and corrupt Wall Street execs, hoodlums and crooks in different casual wear, but that doesn't mean the parallel is that meaningful. It's on-the-nose and a bit in your face (really, people are watching C-SPAN in dive bars?).

Given Domink's last film, I expected there to be some visual flourishes, though I'm unsure of whether they added much to the proceedings. Dominik sure can make violence entrancing, setting a slow motion slaying in the rain with stirring beauty to ironic Motown music. But he can also make the violence feel brutal, like a beat down on Markie that uses choice sound effects and editing to make you feel the punches. Even the opening seconds feel like an artistic assault to the senses, the loud static of noise interrupted by bursts of Obama's sound bytes. The extreme camera angles, the visual felicities, the ironic music selections, they all seem to underscore the movie's subtext-as-text approach.

Pitt (Moneyball) doesn't come into the movie for the first thirty minutes. You're welcome to see him, especially since he has such a coolly threatening demeanor, but also because here's a character that will mix things up. I found myself rooting for the guy, partially because he was an accomplished professional but also because I wanted there to be consequences for idiots doing dumb to powerful enemies. I enjoyed the slow-burn intensity of Pitt when he was turning the screws on the screw-up. Richard Jenkins (Cabin in the Woods) is also enjoyable as a mob shill left to communicate the wishes of his higher-ups. McNairy (Argo) gives a performance that screams desperation, as he realizes the depth of trouble he finds himself into. And even Liotta (Charlie St. Cloud) does a fine job as a lout who misjudges the friends he keeps, discovering the costs of bragging.

In many ways, I feel like Killing Them Softly is akin to last year's Drive, a more meditative crime thriller with bursts of gruesome yet beatific violence. Likewise, many filmgoers will be sore thinking they were catching straight crime thrillers and been given arty genre ruminations instead. And like my ambivalent feelings toward Drive, I can't work up that much enthusiasm for Killing Them Softly either. It's certainly got more ambition than most crime flicks but I'd rather it concentrate on telling a more engaging story. Dominik's film is a bit too indulgent for its own good, given to visual flourishes and a narrative routinely sidetracked. And yet, I found it fairly interesting at just about every turn, well-acted, and intensely suspenseful and effective at different points. But it doesn't add up to enough to recommend. The political allegory probably rubbed the walkouts the wrong way as well. The political allegory is too obvious, too pat with its "they're all crooks" broadside. I wish the movie had abandoned the squalid, nihilistic art house ambitions and just kept things straight. When it has less on its mind, it works best. But for many, Killing Them Softly will be too tedious to see to the bloody end.

Nate's Grade: B-