Rated R for language, violence, sexual content and adult situations

By Joseph Hunter

posted Dec 13, 2012 - 8:11:10pm

Did you know both a U.S. presidential election and a global recession hit in 2008? Because if you had any doubt, boy, does director Andrew Dominic have a message for you. That’s all you’ll take away from sitting through Killing Them Softly.

It’s a shame, because this crime drama could have been so much better if it wasn’t so blatant in its message and so vapid in its dialogue that the viewer almost loses what little context the plot provides. Rather than make a statement through good storytelling and interesting characterization, Dominic simply sets loose a few mob caricatures to talk about, alternately, sex and politics while TVs and radios play speeches by Barack Obama, John McCain and George W. Bush.

Dominic mistakes politically aware for smart, and, just as distractingly, profane for Tarantino-esque. The end result is a surprisingly small film that gets so lost in its own message it forgets to tell an interesting story, in spite of its own promising (if inconsequential) plot.

Two goofball kids (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn) are hired to rob a mob-run poker game hosted by a gangster (Ray Liotta) with a shifty history within the crime world. But stealing from gangsters – and this is a valuable lesson – is a bad idea. The two are quickly recognized and located, and Brad Pitt gets hired to kill them (softly).

The plot’s implication, I guess, is that gang-run card games are the lifeblood of the criminal economy, and with the selfish, greedy actions of just a few people, the whole underworld can fall apart. I say “I guess” because we never see any of this: We are told it happened once before, and that it devastated business, but nothing tangible ever backs this notion up. That’s because too much effort was put into turning it into a metaphor for global economics. You get it? Because people are all criminals at heart.

Killing Them Softly is frustratingly almost-good. Look at that cast! Pitt, Liotta, supporting roles by James Gandolfini and Richard Jenkins! How could a gritty crime drama with that cast not be amazing?

But the characters are boring: Pitt has no defining traits other than that he likes money, and Liotta and Jenkins are mere plot devices. Gandolfini’s troubled alcoholic character is the most interesting of the four, but also the most irrelevant. It turns out McNairy’s character is the only one who is simultaneously important and likable, but he gets unfairly lost in the cast.

Andrew Dominic is clearly a skilled technical filmmaker: His shots are frequently beautiful, the scenes and sounds are edited together with an artist’s precision, and the film has some legitimately tense moments.

But Dominic directs like he’s afraid his audience will miss the point, so he foregoes nuance entirely. When the characters do heroin at one point, the Velvet Underground’s “Heroin” plays in the background. At the end of the film, Pitt’s character gives a tired rant that climaxes with “America’s not a country; it’s a business,” as if underscoring half the movie with ambient speeches about economic collapse wasn’t already overkill.

Dominic clearly wants this movie to be witty, beautiful, cynical, gritty and philosophical. He wants to blow your mind, and his intentions are good, but he falls short and instead creates a forgettable film that hints at greatness. It’s frustrating: As a filmmaker, Dominic shows the right stuff, he was too close to this project, and the whole thing unravels.

Stars & Popcorn grade: 2 1/2 stars, 2 popcorn.

— Hunter serves as editor-in-chief for movie-review website Stars and Popcorn. To learn more about Stars and Popcorn, visit www.starsandpopcorn.com. Send e-mail to Hunter at joseph@starsandpopcorn.com

Sponsored by Liebe Entertainment Group, Marketplace 8. Click here to see showtimes for Killing Them Softly

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