Just when I thought Brad Pitt’s career was ruined by a way overacted and ridiculed on Saturday Night Live Chanel No. 5 commercial, along comes "Killing Them Softly". In the movie, he reminds us that he’s more than just a pretty face with a sultry voice. He plays Jackie Cogan, a man who has made a career of not being well known, the complete opposite of his real persona. Career saved!
"Killing Them Softly" may have big time actors like James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta and Brad Pitt, but the movie is as small as any other independent low budget film you may venture to see. Its premise centers around a culture of despair and desperation that has gripped our country. There is no musical soundtrack in the film. The tone of the film is captured with sound bites and clips of President’s Barack Obama and George Bush, talking about hope and unity, all the while our country is falling farther and farther into economic ruin. With that ruin comes a new era of gangster, mob, crime mentality. With that ruin comes characters like Frankie and Russell, who are desperate enough to pull off a robbery just for a paycheck.
Jackie Cogan is called in by a secret group of men who want to know who robbed their card game of $100,000 and want somebody to pay. Pitt pulls off Cogan’s menacing charm with ease. He has to be somebody who is capable of awful things, but could easily friend you at the drop of a hat. Gandolfini is a fellow hit man who comes in because one of the jobs Cogan is asked to do is of a personal nature. While his character is interesting, his relevance becomes questionable and the two long talky scenes that he is in become even more troublesome.
"Killing Them Softly" is 100% independent film. It has a gangster movie type feel to it, but character exploration is at its heart. The scenes are real and effective. Although there are too many long scenes, most notably the scenes with Gandolfini that serve little to no purpose and weigh the film down. Yet, as I stated earlier, the Presidential sound bites that loom over the film are effective and add validity to a movie that probably wouldn’t have been as good without them. When desperation becomes more prevalent and the people in charge are full of hot air, things and people happen. Despair is a very real thing and we have all become reliant upon paychecks and money. The events of the film unfold, but the true message of the film last long afterward.
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