Killing Them Softly (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.

Director:

Andrew Dominik

Writers:

Andrew Dominik (screenplay), George V. Higgins (based on the novel "Cogan's Trade" by)

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins

3 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Jackie
Scoot McNairy	...	Frankie
Ben Mendelsohn	...	Russell
James Gandolfini	...	Mickey
Richard Jenkins	...	Driver
Vincent Curatola	...	Johnny Amato
Ray Liotta	...	Markie Trattman
Trevor Long	...	Steve Caprio
Max Casella	...	Barry Caprio
Sam Shepard	...	Dillon
Slaine	...	Kenny Gill
Linara Washington	...	Hooker
Ross Brodar	...	Poker Guy
Wade Allen	...	Business Suit Agent
Christopher Berry	...	Cab Driver Agent

Storyline

Three amateurs stickup a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the hitman hired to track them down and restore order.

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Plot Keywords:

nihilism | neo noir | hitman | poker game | global economic crisis of 2008 | 

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Taglines:

In America you're on your own

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Genres:

Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexual references, pervasive language, and some drug use

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 November 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Cogan's Trade

Filming Locations:

Claiborne Avenue Bridge, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,812,900, 2 December 2012, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$15,026,056

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$37,930,465

Company Credits

Production Co:

Plan B Entertainment, 1984 Private Defense Contractors, Annapurna Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min 150 min (rough cut)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Brad Pitt and Scoot McNairy would appear a year later in 12 Years a Slave (2013).

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Goofs

At the beginning of the movie, Russell and Frankie are discussing the possibility of doing or not doing the coup. Russell is eating an ice cream. Suddenly, in a next shot, the ice cream has disappeared.

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Quotes

Jackie Cogan: They cry, they plead, they beg, they piss themselves, they cry for their mothers. It gets embarrassing. I like to kill 'em softly. From a distance

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Cannes Film Festival 2012 (2012)

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Soundtracks

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries
Written by Lew Brown and Ray Henderson
Performed by Jack Hylton and His Orchestra

User Reviews

Speak Much...Say Little

There is more wordplay than gun-play here and it is a Neo-Noir, hard-boiled, unfettered attempt at gritty realism. Some of the extended dialog scenes are pretty good but not quite excellent. There is some rambling and pointless exchanges with little pay-off.

But there are some serious, reality sound bites that give us the same thing. There is that continuous backdrop of Political rambling rhetoric that mirrors the Character's innate ability to speak much and say little.

This is an against the grain try at alternative, smart Cinema with just enough stylized graphic violence to make it obvious that this has Artistic commentary and not Documentary style Cinema Verite on its mind. Overall it is a well done and interesting kind of side-step from the usual whiz-bang editing and shaky Camera stuff that has become so common.

This is slow, bordering at times on tedious, but never a bore. It is well crafted but does not quite reach that level of great Prose transferred to great Film. But it is a good try at a very difficult, rarely achieved process that creates the best of this kind of thing.