I watched “Killing them Softly” last Sunday.
SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS
Three criminals decide to rob a poker game ran by a ganster (Ray Liotta) for gangsters. The gangsters who were robbed want the offenders taken care of, so they hire Brad Pitts’ character to carry out the operation.
I hated this movie. I’ll typically find things to appreciate about the vision of the director or an actors performance but this film is nothing short of hot garbage.
Here’s why:
Dull, overacted and way too much dialogue. The actors clearly weren’t allowed to go that far off the page, and the conversations inbetween characters were way too long. Single shot back and forth camera angles surely proved to be a challenge for the performers, but on screen it’s tedius to the point of the director making the statement of “I know this is uncomfortable for you the audience, but I don’t care and I’m not going to let you up for air.”
Many of these conversations take place in cars or in back room offices, and bars. There’s nothing else to look at while two actors banter back and forth. In key scenes where Brad Pitts’ character is speaking with the liaison, it’s literally taking place in a Lexus where half the screen at each angle is swarmed by the headrest of the driver or passenger seat. Very annoying.
None of the characters are anywhere near likeable. One might be relieved to see Brad Pitt finally come on screen, but it’s anticlimactic and too wordy for him. He’s best when he’s reacting, not when he drives the scene.
Though the story is supposedly taking place in New Orleans, everyone kind of sounds like they are from Boston. One of the main characters is a white unshaven brunette dude who drags on like an idiot, and clearly borrowed the essence of his character from Casey Affleck in Good Will Hunting. Later I learned that this director also did “The Killing of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” which leads me to believe that the director initially wanted Affleck because of his chemistry with Pitt, but Affleck told him “no thanks” and he found a direct replacement.
It seemed through casting that the producers intended on dissapointing it’s audience all together and trolling us into believing this is a heavy gangster movie being portrayed by lauded actors. Ray Liotta’s character turned out to be a humongous pussy, James Gandolfini played a slovenly alcoholic hitman 10 years past his prime who ultimately is removed from his duty because he can’t keep himself together. His storyline literally ends in the front seat of that fucking Lexus during a conversation ABOUT HIM and we never see him again.
Toward the end of the film, Pitts character carries out a complex execution of three of the characters in what critics are calling brutal violence and heavy action, but it’s not. It’s murder porn and not much more. Pitts character takes advantage of the bumbling so-called gangsters weakness and handles them accordingly. Zero payoff for the bullshit this movie puts the audience through up to that point.
Like I said, you can’t attach yourself to any one character, the hits that happen at the end aren’t based on anything personal, it’s strictly business, and the business that’s completed weren’t really even very high stakes. Just a bunch of low level gangsters getting payback for losing 100k at a poker game.
Lastly, the thing that bothered me most about this film is the less than subtle reminder of Americas financial issues in November of 2008, when this film takes place. In every scene where there was a TV playing in the background, President Bush was giving a speech about the economy or Obama was campaigning for office. In scenes in cars (which were abundant), the radio played news reports and talkshow discussions regarding the economy and the presidential race. One of the scenes even concluded with a character looking up into a bleak sky with a billboard half populated with Obama and the other half with McCain.
It’s as if the filmmaker was saying “Remember how fucked up 2008 was? Remember that financial collapse where people lost their homes and jobs? Remember? REMEMBER??? If not, it’s ok because we’re going to FUCKING BEAT YOU OVER THE HEAD WITH IT FOR TWO HOURS UNTIL YOU DO!!!”
I spend my movie going dollar to escape for a couple hours and have a good time with my wife, who also loves seeing movies. We don’t go to get bummed out or reminisce about bullshit from 4 years ago, ESPECIALLY during the Holiday season. This movie SUCKED man. Please save your money on this one. Rotten Tomatoes is WRONG. This movie is tanking hard and deservedly so. If I’ve kept at least one of you from spending your money, then I’ve done my job here.