Killing Them Softly (2012)

Film: Killing Them Softly (2012)
Stars: Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins, Ray Liotta
Director: Andrew Dominik
Oscar History: Not a chance with that box office
Snap Judgment Ranking: 5/5 stars

Okay, before I head off for Christmas break, I thought I'd throw a couple of final reviews out there that I had not been "putting off" but had not been able to get to do to a crazy work week.  Like almost none of you (considering the Box Office), I went out and saw Killing Them Softly this past weekend, and was pleasantly surprised at what a fine picture had been made for all of us, and one that apparently no one really wanted to see.

The movie tells the tale of several smalltime crooks and what has become of organized crime.  The film never 100% says what city it's in, but you can feel from the washed out cityscape and the crumbling homes that this is Katrina-ravaged New Orleans.  Showing the city, still reeling from the devastation of that storm and the lack of federal response, is one of many political insinuations that Dominik throws out throughout the film.  The film takes place in 2008, during the collapse of the world economy, and frequently highlights speeches made by President Bush and then-Sen. Obama.  We'll get to why in a minute, but just keep it it mind, as this seemingly out-there use of their speeches comes to a head as the film progresses.

(Spoilers throughout) The film follows two young criminals-for-hire (McNairy and Mendohlson) and their backer who tries to execute out a seemingly perfect crime.  Several years earlier, Markie (Liotta) stood up his own poker game, and kept the money.  Time went by, and Markie eventually confessed to the crime, but no one seemed to care, as Markie was a guy that everyone got along with, and they just brushed it off.  However, McNairy and Mendohlson decide to duplicate the crime, therefore implicating Markie since he got away with it the first time, and presumably taking the suspicion off of themselves.

The plan would work, but loose lips and all of that take place, and eventually Jackie (Pitt) is hired to kill the backer and Markie.  However, because Pitt knows the backer, he convinces the man hiring him, an accountant for the mob (Jenkins) to hire someone else to kill the backer, James Gandolfini's very tough Mickey.

This all sounds like fairly boilerplate crime drama, doesn't it?  That's where you'd be wrong.  Dominik, who five years ago came out with one of the best films of the decade, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, does not make simple, un-complicated films, and this movie, which is admittedly hard to describe in the confines of a review, spends most of its time after the initial set-up exploring its characters on the periphery, particularly Mickey.  Mickey, excellently played by Gandolfini, who must be tired of playing emotionally-stunted tough guys, but still gives it his all, shows us a man who has essentially lost his way, likely never to return from it.  He is a man who breaks down into tears at the thought of his wife leaving him or cheating on him, but is still the sort of man who won't give up drinking or hookers (the film is stunningly lacking in female roles, and I think the only woman with a speaking part is Mickey's prostitute).  He also wouldn't give up crime, but he's so drunk all-the-time that he can no longer do the thing that he's good at, something that becomes apparent to Jackie as he realizes that he'll be doing all of the kills.

The film also is about money, and what people will do in a tough economy to get it.  Presidents Obama and Bush consistently talk about the money that the financial collapse had cost, and the ensuing bailout.  The film makes the commentary that these institutions, who stole all this money are just as much criminals as the men bloodily beating and stealing in front of you, and I'll leave your politics to decide whether or not you agree with that statement, but suffice it to say it's a bold one, and one that works rather effectively in the confines of the film.  When, as the film closes, Jackie is seemingly stiffed by Jenkins' accountant character, and comes back to demand more money, Jenkins cheekily blames it on the economy, and the film ends with Jackie demanding his money.

The film's two best assets, aside from Dominik's sturdy and daring direction, are Greig Fraser's cinematography and Pitt's lead performance.  Fraser's work is mesmerizing, particularly in the film's most violent sequences.  When one of the characters is murdered in a car, Fraser frames the shots as if he's filming the Joffrey Ballet, with a sort of sweeping beauty that has you both gaping in awe and in disgust that such carnage could look so stunning.  Fraser, who is an excellent cinematographer, also has Snow White and the Huntsman and Zero Dark Thirty out this year, and may just get his first of that most coveted of prizes in a few weeks: an Oscar nomination (just not for this film).

Pitt, on the other hand, has been nominated by Oscar in the past.  In fact, Pitt has been so damn good so often these days that you'd be remiss to not be excited about yet another excellent piece of work from the actor (in fact, if you discount vocal work, he hasn't had a miss since his last film with Dominik).  Pitt's work here is forceful-you get a man who treats his work as an assassin with care, but also the normalcy you might consider your average 9-to-5 job.  He jokes with his coworker, he clearly likes some parts of his job more than others, and at the end of the day, he does it primarily for the paycheck.  Pitt's strong, relaxed chemistry with Jenkins, Gandolfini, and McNairy makes it seem so easy, but imagine almost any other actor in this role, and think about how they would have overplayed the political angles of the film or the violent actions of the film, rather than making this man commonplace, a far eerier and bolder way to tackle such a character.  While George Clooney is off making "prestige" fare and Matt Damon is off making family and box office-friendly work, Pitt continues to stretch his considerable acting muscles in movies like Killing Them Softly, The Tree of Life, Burn After Reading, and Assassination of..., and I suspect will have the more memorable filmography from this period as a result.