Review of Killing Them Softly (2012) by Filmgrinder S — 17 Jul 2014

Below in the comments someone wrote, "A stunningly bad piece of crap." Yeah, I pretty much agree with that assessment. How did this movie get 75% positive tomato score? If I have to list some positives, I guess the performance are pretty believable. Brad Pitt doesn't have to work hard but comes off smooth as the hitman Jackie who is tasked with taking out a trio of lowlifes who robbed a mob approved card game. So once that premise is established, it pretty much is accomplished. Meanwhile, you are forced to sit through pointless, extended dialogue scenes where the most vile and reprehensive chatter is exchanged between characters. I know I wanted to turn this movie off at least two times because the dialogue was just so vile and pointless. It would have been a little more bearable if it contained any of Tarranino's wit or insight. As it is, it just sits there like a loaded diaper on the floor of a crack house.

And the violence? Totally gratuitous and stylized in the most ostentatious manner. Slow motion matrix style bullets through a hand and cheek along with a head through a windshield, is so overdone you will feel like you fell into a Michael Bay film. One saving grace is that the movie is slight, weighing in at around 90 minutes. You will wish it was shorter after suffering through James Gandolfini's scene in a hotel room insulting a call girl. A totally pointless scene, he disappears right after that to never be seen again.

Much has been made of the political subtext in the movie, which could have been interesting if not handled so unrealistically. I doubt gangster bars are constantly streaming C-Span on all of their televisions, or listening to the same thing on their radios when I'm sure "Layla" is playing somewhere on the dial. Score: 2.