Movie Review Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly (2012) 

Directed by Andrew Dominik 

Written by Andrew Dominik 

Starring Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta 

Release Date November 30th, 2012 

Published November 29th, 2012 

There is a good movie somewhere in the bones of "Killing them Softly." Sadly, what finally arrives on the big screen is only mildly interesting. This Brad Pitt starring mob drama about a hitman assigned to exact revenge on minor thieves who've stolen mob money has moments that are transcendent but also feel as if they belong in a different and more interesting movie.

'Indecisive and bureaucratic'

"Killing them Softly" stars Pitt as mob hit-man Jackie. Hired by the mob in New Orleans when their regular killer, Sam Shepard in a cameo, falls ill, Jackie is a philosophical killer eager to discuss plans for murder but growing weary of a mob that has become shockingly indecisive and bureaucratic.

Writer-director Andrew Domenik spends a great deal of effort to draw parallels between the mob and the modern American government, an ineffectual, gridlocked bureaucracy incapable of taking decisive action even in the face of overwhelming evidence. Every decision is work-shopped in committee and related via functionaries' Ala Richard Jenkins' mob lawyer.

Obama, McCain and Tony Soprano

The parallels between the mob and the government are thickly brewed and ladled on quite heavy as every scene seems to be scored by scenes from the 2008 economic crisis; the film is set in 2008 amid the Obama-McCain election. That said, the parallels are darkly amusing as are Pitt's exasperated expository conversations with Jenkins.

Also good are the talk heavy scenes between Pitt and a fellow mob hitman played by 'Sopranos' star James Gandolfini. There is a fascinating "My Dinner with Andre" style movie to be made with these two killers talking about the strange twists and turns of their lives and at times "Killing them Softly" almost becomes that movie.

Not enough star-power

The weakest moments of "Killing them Softly" and the reason why the film fails to become great, are the far too many moments when Pitt is off-screen. Scoot McNary and Ben Mandelsohn play the small-time crooks that Pitt takes aim at and we spend a shocking amount of time with these characters who never earn our interest and leave viewers wondering where Brad Pitt is.

"Killing them Softly" is a fascinating failure. Pitt, Jenkins and Gandolfini are very good but when they aren't onscreen, the film becomes far less compelling.

Moview Review Monsters

Monsters (2010) 

Directed by Gareth Edwards

Written by Gareth Edwards

Starring Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able 

Release Date December 3rd, 2010 

Published March 11th 2011 

To the list of the great overlooked movies of 2010 add “Monsters” a clever sci fi affected romance come road movie; a first feature from British director Gareth Edwards. With elements of “District ..9,”.. “Cloverfield” and “Jaws,” “Monsters” is the kind of first feature that ensures a long and fruitful career for its creator.

Set in the future, in Mexico, “Monsters” tells us that a NASA probe seeking proof alien life forms on a planet called Europa, crash landed on its return to earth and spread debris over Northern Mexico. Amongst the debris apparently was the alien life form which spread over a wide area that has become the infected zone.

In Mexico, Caulder (Scoot McNairy) is an American photographer on assignment from a major news organization. His goal is to capture on film one of these amazing, allegedly destructive alien creatures. However, Caulder's assignment is interrupted when his boss forces him to accompany his daughter Sam (Whitney Able) to the coastline where a boat will take her back to America.

Naturally, these two will bond but as played by newcomers McNairy and Able the romance evolves in subtle and natural ways. Director Edwards, who wrote the script and handled the special effects, takes great care to give equal weight to the burgeoning romance and the sci-fi plotting and each serves to give weight to the other.

Shot on a budget of around 500 grand, “Monsters” has surprisingly strong special effects. The creatures glimpsed mostly at night, glimmering like the floating creatures in Cameron's “Avatar” and walking with a realistic feel of the Prawns in “District ..9.”.. It's a remarkable achievement and one that deserves more acclaim than the film has thus far received.

At heart, “Monsters” is an exceptionally human story. Caulder and Sam are archetypes of characters we've seen before but director-writer Edwards gives his unknown actors enough room to move within these characters that they become real and highly sympathetic. The love story is underplayed yet quite compelling as the obstacles that emerge between the two are overcome by circumstance and real emotional bonding.

”Monsters” has an ease to it that other similar films fail to create. By forgoing the need for gratuitous carnage, a temptation most other films cannot escape, “Monsters” feels more genuine and the little carnage there is has meaning and sorrow attached to it.

It's a shame that “Monsters,” along with another film arriving on DVD the same day, also with a very different approach to a sci-fi plot, “Never Let Me Go,” was so badly overlooked. These are the kinds of daring approaches to genre movies that need our encouragement and reward our investment of time and money.