"Killing Them Softly" tells a wonderful story of a successful hitman. The film shows a complex lifestyle that a hitman takes on to do his job. It makes hitmen look like well organized business men.
Hitman Jackie, played by Brad Pitt, goes after Frankie, played by Scoot McNairy, and Russel, played by Ben Mendelsohn, who disrupt the balance of illegal gambling by robbing an underground card game protected by the mob.
Markie Trattman, played by Ray Liotta, takes care of the game and had hired robbers before to rob the card game years before was the first suspect.
Jackie hunts down the dumb criminals as they are young and do a bad job of keeping their successful heist secret.
To be able to get close to a target Jackie hires Mickey, played by the late James Gandolfini, once a successful hot-shot hitman now reduced to an unstable sex-driven alcoholic, which increases the level of difficulty of the job.
Pitt, although not one of my favorite actors, pulls off a strong deviously intelligent hitman with class as intelligence. He talks his way through the hit correcting his mistakes along the way and even as he appears to be cold-hearted reaches a level of charisma that makes him a likable character.
The robbers scramble to survive as their boss and Trattman become accomplices and set as part of the job.
Gandolfini has an over-powering performance. He really portrays a man who is self-destructing. He becomes a great obstacle that comes in to Jackie's path but still hold sympathy from the audience. The performance had a great combination of emotion and chaos.
The two criminals Frankie and Russel were complete opposites and McNairy an Mendelsohn did well to portray them in that manner. The difference between them were world apart and made it for an easy distinction as to how their characters would end up. One tired of the criminal life and waiting for the one big job that will end his criminal life and the other the junkie that wants to try to be a boss.
The ending is satisfying and thrilling with all conflicts coming to an end and wrapping things up nicely.
I give this film 4 out of 5 Popcorns. The action was well handled and not over the top since there is little o it throughout the film. Pitt steps up his acting and is charismatic and philosophical throughout giving his character a strong feel. The story is entertaining even as the majority of it is talking. This thriller puts suspense and action together with intricate story lines and creates a marvelous story.
"Killing Them Softly" out on DVD and Blu-Ray now.
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