Killing Them Softly (2012)

Killing Them Softly (R) Review

"Red collar workers"

Australian writer/director Andrew Dominik (Assassination of Jesse James) has made some interesting choices here  Adapting the 1970's gritty crime novel Cogan's Trade and applying it to the 2008 Economic Crisis and US Presidential election is interesting but very-very heavy handed, like a .45 slug to the back of the head, over and over again.  Hiring Brad Pitt, Ray Liota and James Gandolfini to play second and third string hoodlums all struggling along with the American economy works well, these guys bleed and have family lives and have to deal with the boss.  Bureaucracy and red tape is even on the streets thanks to Richard Jenkins' Lawyer character, who haggles expenses and screws up the chain of command.  The small-time roles are all filled with interesting performances and characters.  A movie can't just be actors though, story and visuals are key, and this is where the adaption misses the mark.  It feels like a short story brought right to the screen line for line with none of the extraneous dialogue removed just to keep the mandatory  hour and a half run time. The criminal jargon definitely takes some getting used to, but its inherit humor and humanity makes it enjoyable. All characters obliquely discuss murders and holdups and acquaintances with a shrug and its up to you to decipher and decode.  The cinematography is simple, the colors browned with grease, the camera tricks are both "nothing new" and "can't look awayable".  The car shooting scene in the rain was mesmerizing but also sticks out as the only visually stunning pop in the film.  On top of that, Killing is about smalltime crooks doing smalltime jobs with smalltime problems, this isn't Die Hard and some may be bored.  Its about management versus the workers, profits and losses, image versus bailouts  And thanks to Dominik who pushes the analogy way too hard, the movie is obviously about the desperation and hope of America, the dream for sale and how hard it is to purchase..

There's not much energy here.  There is a lethargy, a depression, a nervousness that crackles and has a very sharp edge.  Tension is as thick as the rhetoric that comes from every radio, every TV.  There is nothing artistically flashy or celebratory in Killing them Softly, its all just business and everyone gets paid.
Eventually.

6 Bud Bottles out of 10 (GOOD)