"Killing Them Softly" is a violent gangster romp from director Andrew Dominik. It features Brad Pitt as a sly hitman who must avenge the holdup of a high-stakes card game. At one hour and thirty five minutes, it is short and flies by. There are scenes of high tension that will leave your heart pounding and jaw agape.
Throughout this picture, there are interspersed speeches from George W. Bush and Barack Obama that we overhear on the radio or see on the television. These provide commentary on the story: the speeches deal with the economy and the attempts to alleviate the dismal recession that the United States is experiencing.
The bad economy is always lingering in the foreground as the various gangsters struggle, like all citizens, to garner their fair share.
James Gandolfini has an amusing role as a fellow hitman of Pitt and his appetite for booze and hookers may lead to his downfall.
As the movie opens, two bumbling gangsters, under the tutelage of a crime boss, hold up card game and steal a lot of money. Ray Liotta's character, who was responsible for an earlier holdup, is targeted as the instigator and planner. Thus, things look bleak for him and will probably not turn out good.
Brad Pitt's character shows up to investigate things and right all the wrongs. His performance is good as are all of the other actors in this male-dominated cast.
I thought that this movie ended too abruptly and in the end, there is not a lot of depth to it. Characters aren't given much chance to really develop and we therefore aren't really invested in what happens to them. It is a good picture but definitely not the best of a great year for movies.
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