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Killing Them Softly

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Killing Them Softly
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAndrew Dominik
Screenplay byAndrew Dominik
Produced byBrad Pitt
Dede Gardner
Steve Schwartz
Paula Mae Schwartz
Anthony Katagas
StarringBrad Pitt
Richard Jenkins
James Gandolfini
Ray Liotta
Scoot McNairy
Ben Mendelsohn
CinematographyGreig Fraser
Edited byBrian A. Kates
John Paul Horstmann
Production
companies
Annapurna Pictures
1984 Private Defense Contractors
Plan B Entertainment
Chockstone Pictures
Distributed byThe Weinstein Company
Release dates
  • May 22, 2012 (2012-05-22) (Cannes)
  • November 30, 2012 (2012-11-30) (United States)
Running time
97 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$15 million[2][3]
Box office$37,470,591[3]

Killing Them Softly is a 2012 American neo-noir crime film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt, based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins. On May 22, 2012, the film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival, receiving positive early reviews.[4][5]

Plot

In the past, Markie Trattman (Liotta), the proprietor of a criminal poker ring operating in an unspecified New Orleans neighborhood, decides to orchestrate an inside job by paying two men to rob his poker room. He holds up under questioning by the hitman Dillon, although he later openly admits his involvement to various criminal figures; he suffers no retaliation. In the fall of 2008, amidst the American financial crisis, a man named Johnny "Squirrel" Amato (Curatola) plans to rob Markie's next poker game, anticipating the Mafia will blame Markie for the heist. He enlists Frankie (McNairy), a naïve, former business associate with a boy's voice, and Russell (Mendelsohn), an unstable heroin addict who is stealing purebred dogs for money, to perform the robbery. Upon completing the crime, Russell travels to Florida to sell the purebred dogs.

Driver (Jenkins), an emissary for the Mafia, converses with a hitman named Jackie Cogan (Pitt). Although Jackie understands Markie was uninvolved in the aforementioned heist, he believes Markie should be murdered in order to restore the mobsters' confidence in the local gambling scene. While in Florida, Russell inadvertently informs a man named Kenny Gill (Slaine) of his involvement in the heist while trying to recruit him as a dealer. Kenny informs Jackie, who implicates Russell, Frankie, and Squirrel as the true perpetrators. Jackie brings in Mickey Fallon (Gandolfini), a hitman from New York, to kill Squirrel, as Squirrel is acquainted with Jackie. Jackie kills Markie in a drive-by shooting. Jackie later becomes frustrated with Mickey's flagrant lechery and alcoholism, and convinces Driver to arrange Mickey's arrest before the job has been completed.

Russell is arrested on a drug possession charge; meanwhile, Jackie confronts Frankie and convinces him to trade Squirrel's whereabouts for his life. Jackie kills Squirrel and then Frankie; he then meets with Driver to collect his fee. Driver refuses to pay Jackie in full, and Jackie demands his payment.

Cast

Production

Killing Them Softly is based on the 1974 novel Cogan's Trade by George V. Higgins. The film was written and directed by Andrew Dominik, who chose to update the setting of the story, saying "as I started adapting it, it was the story of an economic crisis, and it was an economic crisis in an economy that was funded by gambling—and the crisis occurred due to a failure in regulation. It just seemed to have something that you couldn't ignore."[6]

The project was first announced in November 2010 when Brad Pitt was reported to be in talks for the lead role.[7] Pitt joined the project the following month, and production was scheduled to begin in Louisiana in March 2011.[8] Additional roles were cast in early 2011.[9] Dominik asked Pitt if he was interested in the role via a text message; he replied "yes" and the matter was settled over half an hour.[10]

Pre-production began in Louisiana in January 2011,[11] and filming was underway by March 2011.[12]

According to Garrett Dillahunt, the film's first cut was 2.5 hours long.[13]

Release

Killing Them Softly was scheduled to premiere on September 21, 2012; however, the US release date was delayed until November 30, 2012, to avoid competing with The Master and to improve its chances for award nominations.[14] The film kept its original release date in other parts of the world, with the somewhat unusual result where it opened in the UK and India more than two months before the US opening.

The Weinstein Company distributed the film in the United States and Canada.

Reception

Box office

Upon its opening weekend, Killing Them Softly grossed a domestic total of $6,812,900. As of February 4, 2013, the movie has made $14,947,716 domestically and $20,557,184 internationally, with a worldwide total of $35,504,900.

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a "fresh" rating of 76% based on reviews from 206 critics, and reports a rating average of 6.9 out of 10.[15] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 64% based on 42 reviews.[16]

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian gave the film 5 stars saying the film is a "compelling comment on economic bloodletting in the real world".[17] Tim Robey of The Daily Telegraph gave the film 4 stars describing it as "bleakly electrifying".[18] Total Film awarded it 3 stars calling it "tough, stylish, violent and studded with stars" but countered that it "doesn’t quite get the job done".[19]

Accolades

Award Category Recipients and nominees Outcome
65th Cannes Film Festival[20] Palme d'Or Andrew Dominik Nominated

Home media

The film was released on March 26, 2013. The film was released in Australia earlier, on February 13,[21] and on February 25 in the UK.[22]

References

  1. ^ "Title « British Board of Film Classification". British Board of Film Classification. 2012-08-28. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  2. ^ Kaufman, Amy (2012-11-29). "Brad Pitt's 'Killing Them Softly' poised for soft box office debut". latimes.com. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  3. ^ a b "Killing Them Softly (2012)". Box Office Mojo. 2013-02-10. Retrieved 2013-03-11.
  4. ^ "2012 Official Selection". Cannes Film Festival. Retrieved 2012-04-19.
  5. ^ "Andrew Dominik, a certain vision of capitalism". Cannes Film Festival. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2012-05-22.
  6. ^ Wright, Benjamin (May 23, 2012). "Cannes: 'Killing Them Softly' Helmer Andrew Dominik Talks Music As Film: 'Jesse James' Was My Leonard Cohen Song, 'Killing Them Softly' Is A Pop Tune". The Playlist. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  7. ^ McNary, Dave (November 2, 2010). "Brad Pitt in talks for 'Cogan's Trade'". Variety. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ McNary, Dave (December 30, 2010). Variety [Brad Pitt to star in 'Cogan's Trade' Brad Pitt to star in 'Cogan's Trade']. {{cite journal}}: Check |url= value (help); Check date values in: |date= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  9. ^
  10. ^ Vilkommerson, Sara (September 3, 2012). "Fall Movies We Can't Wait To See – Killing Them Softly (Oct. 19)". Entertainment Weekly. Time Inc. Retrieved September 4, 2012.
  11. ^ Scott, Mike (January 3, 2011). "Brad Pitt to return to New Orleans for thriller 'Cogan's Trade'". The Times-Picayune. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and family hit the French Quarter streets". The Times-Picayune. March 21, 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  13. ^ Jagernauth, Kevin (April 15, 2012). "Garret Dillahunt Says First Cut Of 'Killing Them Softly' Was 2.5 Hours, Not Sure If He Made The Final Edit". The Playlist. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
  14. ^ "Killing Them Softly New Release Date". Film School Rejects. Retrieved 2012-09-18.
  15. ^ "Killing Them Softly". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved March 30, 2013.
  16. ^ "Killing Them Softly". Metacritic. CBS. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  17. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (20 September 2012). "Killing Them Softly – review". The Guardian. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  18. ^ Robey, Tim (20 September 2012). "Killing Them Softly, review". The Telegraph. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  19. ^ Crocker, Johnathon (21 September 2012). "Killing Them Softly review". Total Film. Retrieved 3 April 2013.
  20. ^ "Cannes Film Festival 2012 line-up announced". Timeout. Retrieved September 21, 2012.
  21. ^ "Killing Them Softly". EzyDVD. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
  22. ^ "Killing Them Softly [DVD]: Amazon.co.uk: Film & TV". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved February 12, 2013.
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