Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik, 2012)

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.

Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Jams Gandolfini

Americans might resent this guy from Australia Andrew Dominik (he’s actually from NZ) coming into their country and telling them that it’s not a community but a business based on people killing each other for money. But I suppose he has the excuse that his screenplay is based on a novel by George V. Higgins who should have known about as much as anyone about organized crime, as an attorney who specialised in that area.

Qua film, it’s a talkie—one for actors—and they’re all good, well-directed. It shows some disgusting violence, and also some that is stylised to the point of seeming out of place: Fight Club this is not.

One actor who doesn’t have enough lines is Sam Shepard, who is in it for all of one minute and says something inconsequential: a drover’s dog could have done that. What a tantalising waste!


Garry Gillard | reviews | New: 27 March, 2017 | Now: 27 March, 2017