I knew that a novel by the late great crime writer George V. Higgins was the basis for the Brad Pitt effort with “Killing Them Softly,” but, until recently, I hadn’t bothered to check out the film. Too bad it took so long. “Killing Them Softly” is a very solid movie and here’s another example of a flick that you probably didn’t see but should have. It came in so far down the list of movies from 2012 that unbelievably, considering the quality of “Killing Them Softly,” a Katy Perry documentary called “Part of Me” took in more dollars at the U.S. box office. Really? A look at Katy Perry beat out this film with movie fans? Sigh. Again, I’ll type, too bad. “Killing Them Softly” is much better than dozens ahead of it. It is easy to find and shows up on movie networks on occasion.
‘Killing Them Softly’
(2012; 97 minutes; rated R; directed by Andrew Dominick and starring Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta)
A FILM THAT MISSES GREATNESS BY AN INCH (OR TWO)
You get five great performances in “Killing Them Softly” – from headliner Brad Pitt as mob fixer and hitman “Jackie Cogan” to two other actors in pivotal roles (including a post-“Sopranos” James Gandolfini) as well as two supporting actors with great screen time. However, in the end, the film grades out as just “solid” and even though that’s better than 95-percent of other films, “Killing Them Softly” could have been an instant classic but falls an inch short.
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Director and screenwriter Andrew Dominick is to blame for not being able to go the final yard for the winning touchdown with “Killing Them Softly,” as he adapted critically acclaimed novelist George V. Higgins’ “Cogan’s Trade.” Whatever could have been done to push this solid film to the next level just doesn’t appear.
Too bad. It was a prime opportunity missed.
The novel, as with Higgins’ best writing, revolves around dialog. Higgins’ masterful writing centered around gangsters telling their stories to each other and the “action” is more told than done. That’s where Dominick gets a bit off track – he doesn’t just base the film on the actors’ interaction, and that’s a shame, since so much more could have been accomplished by having the actors on screen acting instead of what action there is in “Killing Them Softly.”
“Killing Them Softly” is a movie that would have been best made by Quentin Tarantino, who adapted another crime novelist’s work into his best film (“Jackie Brown” – click here for my review – from Elmore Leonard’s “Rum Punch”). Tarantino is one of Hollywood’s acknowledged masters of dialog and he would have made “Killing Them Softly” a classic. We’ll see how Pitt does with Tarantino when “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” premieres this coming July. (NOTE: I did review the film … click here to read it.)
In a nutshell, the robbery of a mob-controlled card room results in a hitman (Pitt) being brought in to settle the score. “Killing Them Softly” is played out mainly through the characters’ discussions, but the hold-up scene is too drawn out and Dominick was obviously in love with showing “altered” states with one character’s heroin addiction.
As for the rest of the story, Pitt comes in and finds out all that’s happened and cleans it up with the murders of the robbers, their accomplice who instigated the whole thing and another character who’s beating and inevitable killing is just a message to the rest of the underworld.
The movie has three key scenes: First, several between Pitt and Richard Jenkins as “Driver” in a car planning the killings; between Pitt and Gandolfini as alcoholic and self-destructive hitman “Mickey;” and finally between Pitt and Jenkins closing out the film. All three scenes are Oscar-worthy alone, but other parts push “Killing Them Softly” down to just the “solid” category.
Let me look at the cast:
- An Oscar winner and five-time nominee (not for this one), Pitt, like the film, is solid but misses greatness by an inch. He does excellent work through the three key scenes, but he commits an actor’s cardinal sin by not elevating his or her character. As always, Pitt is totally watchable and you don’t want to miss him in this one. Pitt won his statute for “best motion picture” as co-producer of “12 Years a Slave” and I liked his work best in “Moneyball,” the baseball film that nabbed him a nomination for acting as well as for co-producing in best film. I also like him in the “Ocean’s” remake franchise (click here for my review of the original remake … and my review of “Ocean’s Thirteen”) and its sequels to the remake. He was also nominated in acting for “Twelve Monkeys” from 1995 and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” and for “best picture” in “The Big Short.” Also, “Spy Game” with Robert Redford is among his best as is “Fight Club” and “A River Runs Through It.” Plus, “Deadpool 2” … and all this from his first acting credit in 1987 as “Boy at the Beach” in an uncredited role in the movie “Hunk.”
- A Golden Globe winner and three-time nominee (not for this one), Gandolfini was expected to do great work and he delivered. He’s the killer brought in to help “solve” the situation but turns out that he’s bottoming out on the sauce and personal problems. Despite pushing the booze thing a little too hard and quick, Gandolfini is outstanding in his presentation of “Mickey.” From his physical presence to somewhat drifting in and out of reality, Gandolfini hits a home run with this one. Of course, he won and got nominations for being “Anthony ‘Tony’ Soprano” in HBO’s magnificent mob series. Gandolfini was in “The Taking of Pelham 123” and he died in 2013 at 51 of a heart attack while visiting Italy, less than year after the release of “Killing Them Softly.”
- The best low-key but effective effort is by two-time Oscar nominee (not for this one) Richard Jenkins as “Driver.” He’s the mob go-between who meets Pitt in a car and, in the final scene, in a bar. Jenkins, who was the father in “Step Brothers” with Will Ferrell, manages to give a great performance in a limited space – and therefore just through his voice because he shows no emotion. Jenkins is cast perfectly in this one and he was nominated for acting in “The Shape of Water” and “The Visitor.” You’ve seen Jenkins everywhere: He had notched 128 acting credits by the summer of 2019 and did films such as “Hall Pass” as well as TV such as “Ally McBeal” and let’s not forget he is in “Silverado” (click here for my review), “How I Got Into College” (click here for my review) and three others that I enjoyed: “Sea of Love” with Al Pacino; “Little Nikita” with Sidney Poitier and River Phoenix; and “Stealing Home” with Jodie Foster.
- The wonderfully stage-named Scoot McNairy plays robber “Frankie” and there couldn’t be more to be squeezed from a role than he did with this one. McNairy plays off well when he deals with the guy setting up the robbery to dealing with his friend who’s high on heroin to a bar scene with Pitt and finally the climax. I’d say no other actor comes to mind who could have possibly done better. McNairy has been in “Argo” and Pitt’s “12 Years a Slave” and will be in “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” with him. He has also done TV work including episodes of “How I Met Your Mother,” “Six Feet Under” and “My Name is Earl.” Oh, his given name is John Marcus McNairy.
- A Golden Globe nominee (not for this one), Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn plays the sweaty, oily dog thief “Russell.” Oh, he’s also a heroin addict, would-be drug dealer and chief wiseass. Mendelsohn is one of the two robbers and he causes the fall of the whole scheme with his big mouth. He just physically oozes his character, but, sadly, is another actor who doesn’t elevate the role. Best from him: You get a bit uneasy when Mendelsohn is in a scene and that’s not an easy accomplishment for any actor. He was nominated for TV’s “Bloodline” and has been in “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” along with movie “Animal Kingdom.”
- Vincent Curatola plays “Johnny ‘Squirrel’ Amato” and, also like the film and Pitt, does almost a great job. Curatola, who was on “The Sopranos” with Gandolfini, doesn’t fumble the ball when he gets a chance to carry a couple of scenes, but doesn’t manage to be anything more than a humorless criminal – but that’s good enough here. Curatola has specialized in playing mobsters in his less-than-prolific acting career including an episode of TV’s “Monk,” a recurring role on “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” and a couple of guest shots on the original “Law & Order.”
- I’ve never been impressed with Golden Globe nominee (not for this one) Ray Liotta, who plays “Markie Trattman.” He’s the card game boss here who winds up in Pitt’s crosshairs even though he’s innocent (at least of this crime). Liotta doesn’t do anything with the character, even as he begs for his life – a choice cut of a scene for any actor. Liotta, who was in “Goodfellas” and later starred in Chantix stop-smoking ads, gets roles despite having little discernable talent. Ah well, at least he was a “name” for “Killing Them Softly.” Liotta, who was nominated for the Globe for the film “Something Wild” and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for a guest appearance on TV’s “ER.” Otherwise … ah, who cares?
I’m not sure why a superlative actor such as Oscar nominee (not for this one) Sam Shepard would have accepted the role of “Dillon” in this one. He doesn’t get much screen time and he doesn’t get a chance to act. Shepard, who died at 73 of complications from ALS nearly five years after the release of “Killing Them Softly,” was an award-winning playwright and did great work on screen, too, in films such as “The Right Stuff” (click here for my review), for which he earned his nomination in playing Chuck Yeager.
The one actor who I would have liked seeing get more screen time is Linara Washington as the not-too-subtly titled “Hooker.” She has the only prominent female character in “Killing Them Softly” and does a good job trying to elevate it, but “Hooker” doesn’t have much to work with other than playing off Gandolfini. Washington has done guest work on TV on shows such as “NCIS” and “Madame Secretary.”
As for the director, as I already noted, Dominick put together a solid noir crime film and that’s nothing to sneeze at. He has just the right touch throughout the film, but, in my mind, he gets a little too caught up in getting away from letting the actors act. Dominick has only two other film directing credits after “Killing Them Softly” and has done shorts and work on TV. One of his other films, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” was nominated for two Oscars and starred Pitt, Casey Affleck and Shepard.
I’m sure there is significance to the running news audio of the 2012 presidential campaign and economic reports as a parallel to the mob story, but, frankly, I found it an ongoing distraction and the film definitely did not need it.
Sadly, “Killing Them Softly” managed to be only the 122nd ranked film at U.S. theaters in 2012 with an anemic $15 million in ticket sales, according to Box Office Mojo. It suffered from having its premiere pushed back to November because of another, bigger film’s release (and actually has its premiere in some world markets two months ahead of its U.S. opening). The No. 1 film was “The Avengers” with $623.3 million and coming in second was “The Dark Knight Rises” with $448.1 million. “Killing Them Softly” is the first film from 2012 that I’ve reviewed for this blog.
Assorted cast and film notes (via IMDb.com):
- Jenkins’ character “Driver” is never shown standing during the film. He’s sitting in his car with Pitt or on a barstool at the ending scene with the headliner. Also, you don’t know if “Driver” is his name or that he, like the woman cast only as “Hooker,” is mostly seen in a car.
- “Killing Them Softly” is one of three films to star Pitt and Gandolfini. The other two are “True Romance” and “The Mexican.”
- Gandolfini notched six more acting credits after his death from, of course, work that had already been completed.
- The movie was filmed in New Orleans but there are references to Boston and the novel was set, as most of Higgins’ work was set, in Bean Town.
- Finally and directly from IMDb.com: “The Turkish former minister of culture found the movie so offensive that he told the press that he wanted the age bar for this movie to be raised from 13 to 18 or, if possible, remove it from the theaters altogether.”
- Click here for IMDb.com’s pathetically sparse page of trivia about “Killing Them Softly” …
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