Very well executed

Crappy film

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Jackie Cogan is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb guys rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Killing Them Softly completely wastes a great cast of talented actors such as Ray Liotta and the late James Gandolfini in a film that is simply boring and quite hollow to even enjoy it properly. The action wasn't anything special and the 3 robbers weren't even remotely interesting to at least root them for a little bit at least. The perfomances were also pretty far from being any sort of good as well. (0/10)

What a great movie!! I will start with that. And I've seen a lot of movies over the years. And frankly after 2001 I'm not impressed. The movies have got too corporate and the acting is always... eh. I notice this movie didn't really have any female actors in it, unless your count the hooker. And she was short lived. But wow I was in a surprise with this movie. No bad acting. The acting was great all over the board. This just what I like to see in movies. Violence to the point where its subtle and truly unexpected but expected. You knew somebody was going to killed, heck you may even predicted they are going to get killed but by who and how sometimes eluded me. I know some people will be turned off by the politics in this but I kind of liked it. The director tied it in to the movie. I guess people come to reviews to get a real detail of what they are going to see and its really nothing surprising. It's a mob movie, great acting, cussing and some famous actors. Thats it, but its about two guys who hit s table full of poker players which is ran by the mob. And mob wants people to die for it. There really is nothing to give away. You have to watch how it unravels. And to be honest it has a boon dock saints feel to it.I almost gave it an 8 but there was no women in this and it would have added to the story instead of one alcoholic telling about his struggles. I know some people maybe left dangling at the end but I felt it was completed. I honestly think this movie didn't make much do to advertisement. I lot of movies really don't advertise right. If you want to watch a great movie with some interesting twist, this is it.

Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) runs a dry cleaning business and is a low level crime entrepreneur. He hires two guys to rob a poker game filled with organized criminals. Frankie (Scoot McNairy) is the lead robber, a man who is a Steve Buscemi type. He has help from an unkempt Australian junkie friend named Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), who walks pets for a living. He hopes to be a drug dealer to change his life.The reason why they believe they can get away with the job is because Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta) had done this job once before. He will surely be blamed. After the job is pulled, hitman Jackie (Brad Pitt) is brought in to sort things out and make things right. Jackie is thoughtful, soft spoken, and cynical. Since he knows Johnny, he hires Mickey (James Gandolfini) to do the job, a man who has multiple issues.There are a number of things which set this film apart from other crime movies. First is the dialouge. It is clear the people are uneducated, except for Jackie who speaks as if he lives in two worlds. The ignorance of the robbers is brought to light when they wear bright yellow cleaning gloves to perform their task.The second aspect is the background sound on both the radio, TV, and jukeboxes. It is the macrocosm of what is happening on the screen, and sometimes in an ironic fashion. The time period is the 2008 election season during the financial collapse. We hear "restore confidence in the financial system" and "it's all too familiar" on the radio when Markie is about to take the fall. Every time "B" actor Ray Liotta got punched or kicked, I would think, This is for "Entitled" or This is for "Ticket Out." Here is one for "The Son of No One."The symbolism of the background announcements is brought to light at the end, in case you failed to catch it in the opening scene. A smart film for people who enjoy crime dramas.Parental Guide: F-bombs, no sex, no nudity. Blood splatter, killing, beatings.

Killing Them Softly alludes various political messages regarding greed, violence, theft, dangerous entrepreneurship and irony. Unfortunately, the film portrays these elements very loosely without actually maintaining its concentration and identity. It was advertised as a dark thriller with an inflated mob-mentality story, but was revealed to be a mediocre deflated mob-mentality story with some inappropriate comedic elements.Despite the wonderful cinematography, soundtrack and acting from the cast, the film alone divided from these additions is an unexciting and shallow film adaptation of the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins. Though changing the source material is a risky decision among any adaptation, it here however would've benefited for newcomers, fans, and would've possibly given the film more opportunities to indulge deeper in its political agenda.Instead, it sends disjointed and elongated messages that could've been memorable if were handled cleverly. The film shamelessly descends into an unfinished, unexciting, misguided and tedious experience for the audience. If the film allowed more character development and distance for less predictably dull outcomes, it would've been a superior product opposed to the novel.It's not terrible - but rather a slow and disappointing experience.