Based on George V Higgins' novel Cogan's Trade, Killing Them Softly was adapted with heartfelt insight by Dominik, who believes that crime dramas are "essentially about capitalism", and succeeds in showing the "capitalist idea functioning in its most base form". When Brad Pitt plays the charismatic hero he is idolised. In Killing Them Softly, Pitt the actor brilliantly brings a psychopath from hell to life, allowing us to swoon for his charisma, but fear his retribution.
If you are looking for a film with magnificent performances, Killing Them Softly delivers on all levels, with Richard Jenkins in top form as a lawyer and the go-between the hit man hired to investigate a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game. Ray Liotta is great as the nice bad-guy who's in charge of the card games, with sturdy support from Vincent Curatola and Scoot McNairy as the daredevil duo hell-bent on becoming brainy criminals.
Dominik took us into the souls of criminal minds with Chopper and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (also starring Brad Pitt in a great performance), and with Killing Them Softly he delivers a hard core and intimate journey into the world of vengeance and violence, where the ruthless rule and the reckless suffer the consequences of their foolish actions. Dominik's skilful direction and powerful screenplay are amplified by his astounding vision; this is the art of filmmaking action, brilliantly captured by cinematographer Greig Fraser (Zero Dark Thirty and Now White and the Huntsman), with richly textured production design by Patricia Norris (Blue Velvet).
In the tradition of films like Killer Joe, Zero Dark Thirty, and The Place Beyond the Pines, Killing Them Softly is an intimate encounter with dark forces that destroy the fabric of our humanness. It is through its well defined and vivid characters that hatred and retribution are fully explored. This dark journey into an abyss of despair is laced with a dark sense of absurd humour. It offers discerning cinema-goers a potent crime drama that explores characters tainted by corruption and driven by greed.
"I saw a film populated by people in pursuit of a buck, who had absolutely no idea how unhappy they were, who found their jobs to be a total drag, who were victim to indecisive, incompetent bosses, anesthetising themselves with drugs, sex, and alcohol," said writer-director Andrew Dominik. "I contacted Brad and explained the basic idea by text; I was trying to gauge his interest before I moved on. I assumed at the time that he had bigger fish to fry and wouldn't be interested in doing a modestly budgeted movie at such short notice, but he responded immediately and, 45 minutes later, he had not only agreed to do it, but we had a deal hammered out. Hollywood is a crazy town and if you try to do someone a favour there, they are likely to run away screaming. The rest was pretty straightforward."
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