[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”30711″ img_size=”626×320″ alignment=”center”][vc_column_text]It’s time for another Throwback Thursday review and for this one, we’re going to go through 2012’s Killing Them Softly. Based on George V. Higgins’ novel Cogan’s Trade, the movie takes place during the economic collapse in 2008. The movie is filled with speeches from both President Bush and President Obama, highlighting the economic responsibility that Obama faced when he stepped into office. While the former president’s inaugural speech was filled with hope, the characters in the movie repeatedly express that “the country is f*cked”.
The Plot
Killing Them Softly stars Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Vincent Curatola, and Ray Liotta. The plot of the movie is that Curatola’s ‘Squirrel’ enlists McNairy’s Frankie and Mendelsohn’s Russel to stick up a card game. Since Frankie is recently out of jail and without work and Russel is a drug addict, they agree to do it. While the two get away with the money, bigger players want whoever was involved in the robbery dead. In comes Pitt’s Jackie. The reason why the movie is even called Killing Them Softly is because of Jackie’s motto as a hitman i.e. he likes to “kill them softly”. Meaning from a distance, without the victim pleading and screaming for their life.
What Worked and What Didn’t
The movie has some hiccups, like not knowing whether it wants to be a neo-noir or a bit of a parody film in the style that it’s shot. These uncertain changes in style take away from the movie in some ways, but the key players do their parts well. Pitt is, for the most part; always fantastic and Mendelsohn is brilliant in his repulsive role. McNairy is truly the heart of the film, as it’s clear that he was just looking for some way to make money in this horrible economy. Unfortunately, he ends up in deep shit because of Mendelsohn’s big mouth. I really started to feel for Frankie in the movie and in a movie full of robbers and hitmen, it’s hard to decide who is the good guy and who is the bad guy.
Killing Them Softly needed some improvements tonally, but overall is a good film to watch. Especially when you think about the state of the country in 2008. With economic collapse scaring everyone, it’s not hard to see why some people would become desperate. Cake this on top of the fact that the system already is against recently paroled individuals, it was a bomb waiting to happen.
Rating: 3.5/5
Make sure you check out Killing Them Softly for Pitt, McNairy, and Mendelsohn and let me know what you think!
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A girl with too many fandoms to count.
