Review of Killing Them Softly (2012) by Liam C — 07 Sep 2014

If you look at the poster that is shown on this page where the reviews are, you might think it's an action film. If you look at any other poster, there is absolutely no question as to what this film has on its mind and I was excited. However, when I read that a film is going to deliver its message with a 'sledgehammer force' I can't help but be anticipated to feel like I'm going to be bashed over the head with it. I'm happy to say I didn't feel this way.

After a very strange, Lynchian opening the film sets up its atmosphere really well by making everything just look dirty and grim with the beautiful cinematography. It starts rather small with a robbery and looks to be like a good mob film but very quickly just grows into something bigger. The film follows quite a few people all doing their own thing but fit into the main plot in some way. The performances from a brilliant ensemble cast are all excellent with Ben Mendelsohn being the highlight, he really needs to be in more films as soon as possible. The dialogue sizzles as things just go from bad to worse for some and worse to death for others. With Brad Pitt calling someone counselor as one of his next films would be called, 'The Counselor'- something I just found amusing.

While there is a message in here that is very, very dark and cynical that I actually agree with, the film can be enjoyed on a surface level, but after looking at the audience reviews, I guess not. The film has been called slow and has been compared to Drive, I cannot agree, while Drive is slow but fantastic, I never found this slow at all. It was a very engrossing film that was very different from all the others of it's very niche genre, can't say I've seen too many political mob films, and I never looked at my watch, if anything, I wish it was a bit longer.

The violence, when it happens, is very brutal and may even make some viewers look away at points, so, hey, I guess it is like Drive in some regards. The film also also has a very bleak and dark sense of humor that the biggest of cynics would have a hard time not laughing at. The only complaint I can really find is that there was a comedic scene with a car blowing up and while I did laugh, I couldn't help but feel it was a little out of place, it was filmed a little differently and looked like it belonged somewhere else.

If you didn't understand the message or didn't pay attention, the final, absolutely pitch perfect, monologue delivered by Brad Pitt brings it to the foreground and wraps the whole film in a nice little bow while punching you in the stomach and asking for its money. Andrew Dominik does and excellent job directing and delivers a taut, brutal, controversial and engaging political thriller, that really knows what it wants to say and gets right to it. Killing Them Softly is a criminally underrated film that really didn't get the love it deserved. Its a film I took a long time to see and I'm glad I finally watched it and look forward to seeing it again.