Killing Them Softly (2012)

This is strong movie-making.Brad Pitt has become one of the best actors around. He is capable of handling the subtext of a story subtly but tangibly. In other words, the characters don't talk about what the scene is really about. The scene is about what they're NOT saying, and Pitt is superb at getting that truth across.This is a guy who wants to do good work. And judging from some of his other excellent pictures, he's succeeding. The Assassination of Jesse James, with the same director, is a great example of this. That story is about trust, but nobody ever says, "Can I trust you?" Instead it's in their eyes. They're asking themselves, inside their heads, "Can I trust him?" That kind of subtext is what makes a story great. Take another look at these other excellent examples: War Machine, 12 Years a Slave, Moneyball, Burn After Reading, Babel, 7 Years in Tibet, 12 Monkeys, Snatch. Those are some terrific movies. KTS unquestionably belongs among them.And look at the range of roles he's played in those movies. He's not afraid of taking a chance.I recently saw Allied for the first time, and was really impressed again by what isn't said. Pitt turns in a high quality performance in that story.Killing Them Softly is first rate work. It builds slowly but surely, and when it comes to that final scene in the bar--no spoiler here, but it is a powerful payoff. Unlike anything else out there.Well-written, well-directed, well-produced, well-acted. Pay no attention to all those negative comments. They're all wrong.Highly recommended.

Good crime-drama. Interesting, gritty, plot and quirky, Tarantinoesque, dialogue. Not great though: no real twists - everything pans out pretty much like you expected it would. Is a political allegory, and the almost-constant political news and speeches was irritating, but does get a bit too preachy towards the end. The point made at the end did sum up modern America well, but it seemed to lack context and felt like the entire movie was made just for the soundbite at the end. Good performances from Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ben Mendelsohn.

After staging a robbery at his own gambling establishment, ""Markie Trattman" (Ray Liotta) learns what it is like to become an actual victim when a pair of gunmen named "Frankie" (Scoot McNairy) and "Russell" (Ben Mendelsohn) decide to rob the place a few weeks later. Although most of the underworld bosses figure Markie was innocent, the perception of his complicity lingers and a hit man by the name of "Jackie" (Brad Pitt) is hired to resolve the problem. Soon the situation becomes quite dire for everyone involved. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this movie definitely had some potential—especially considering the solid cast available. Unfortunately, the pace was much too slow and the script was unnecessarily inane and vulgar. To put it quite simply, it would have been more beneficial to have had more action and less conversation. As it was, I found this movie to be quite dull and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

This film could have been so good. It has Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta in main roles, but it never really came together. I was vastly disappointed when I watched this.Firstly, I was severely disappointed with Gandolfini's contribution who hardly appears in this film, despite being a phenomenal actor who was one reason why the Sopranos was so good.I also felt that the film tried way too hard in being arty and the time and effort it put into this could have been better spent elsewhere.Maybe I'm being unfair, this film wasn't all bad. It was funny at times. It made me laugh on occasion. Once or twice. Once.Read my full review here: http://goo.gl/pFHffd