Killing Them Softly

My mum has a thing against Brad Pitt which I don't understand. I think it comes from the fact that at one time he was a 'classic leading man' persona that every studio wanted, which thankfully has morphed into an actual serious actor. And yet, if you look at his film credits he chooses some pretty out there movies. I know for me that he will always be Tyler Durden. But this one is just odd. Not a bad movie, just very slow, very talkey and very, very odd. It's hard to explain why. Maybe it's the lack of plot, maybe it's because all the characters are unbelievabley unlikeable. It might simply be the fact that there is only one female speaking part and she's a prostitute. Well, let's try and find out.

Two amateur criminals, Russel and Frankie (Ben Medelsohn and Scoot McNairy) are asked to knock over a card game run by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta). Markie had previously knocked over his own game and took the money for himself, so if his game is robbed again then most people will think it was him. But Jackie (Brad Pitt), a 'professional enforcer', is called in to take care of those who are responsible by unknown higher ups (represented by Richard Jenkins as the Driver). Because of Jackie's strange ideals, he can't kill anyone he knows and prefers to kill people from far away. So, he calls in another hitman, Mickey (James Gandolfini) in order to eliminate one of the targets. But Mickey has slipped into alcoholism and a desperate state that makes Jackie wonder if that is what is going to happen. Meanwhile, Frankie is getting scared that he is going to get caught. All this is set to the back drop of the 2008 American elections.

So, let's get this out of the way first. This is is a misogynistic movie. As I said in my introduction, there is only one female speaking and she is verbally abused by Mickey in her one scene. It wouldn't bother me that much to have an all male cast, but it's the way that they talk and think about women that really gets to me. To them, women are objects and possessions, to collect and parade about for their own gratification and not actual people. Which, while it solidifies the fact that this movie is indeed set in a mans world, it seems unnecessary to make every character talk about women like they were lower than them. I'm sorry, I had to get this out of the way first. It's the worst thing about the film. And it's a pretty big worst part.

But let's move onto the good stuff. Or at least the better stuff. Bad stuff will come later. But what I do like about this movie is that it doesn't glamourise Jackie's profession and it doesn't exploit violence. A lot of films nowadays will use violence merely to shock the audience and to simply show off the special effects. And while Killing Them Softly could be accused of both of these, I don't think it is. It's shocking, because it's real. Mickey is really being punched in the stomach so hard that he spews blood, really being kicked repeatedly in the ribs so that we can hear them breaking. And the special effects are awesome. The one scene where we really see them is near the middle of the film, where Jackie has to take out Mickey (oh, spoilers!). It's all done in slow motion, while the soundtrack plays "Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries". This scene is absolutely perfect. It's stylised, it's fairly subdued (apart from the whole, you know, slow-mo) and the music contrasts well with the action in a cleverly ironic way.

Speaking of music, the soundtrack is excellent. A whole range of songs from the 30's to the 70's (and possibly beyond). Often the tracks are used to juxtapose what is going on in the film, like in the slow-mo scene. But most of the time they just enhance the action and give the film an edge that a lot of films nowadays don't. The end speech by Jackie about how America has become a business ends with one of the best ending quotes, and the credits start with Barrett Strong's "Money (That's What I Want)" make it an absolutely excellent ending to a movie. Abrupt and dryly funny. Perfect.

But enough gushing. The second main problem I have with the film is that it's very heavy handed with how it uses the American 2008 presidential election and how it connects to the underworld. In fact, it's pretty much shoved down your throat. Every important plot point is preceded by excerpts from the speeches of Obama and Bush, either on the radio or on TV. The only time when it really works is the big finale speech, when Jackie denounces the American dream during Obama's acceptance speech (I think, I'm not an expert on American politics. And from the looks of things, not many Americans are either). He sums up what America has become, a business as stated earlier, and that it has moved on from being a country in its own right. It exists simply to make money. But during, the rest of the movie, the speeches didn't really need to be there.

So, I don't think this is going to be as popular as the makers expeted it to be. Especially since it's adertsed as a fast action flick. It is a good film, and the acting is excellent, especially from Pitt and McNairy. But it is also inredibly dark, and there is a lot of talking. A Tarantino amount of talking. Would I recommend it? Only if you were going to see it anyway. Otherwise, if it doesn't look like your kind of thing, then don't bother. So, November is here, bringing with it NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, for those who didn't know), which means I will be focusing on that rather than this. I have a good idea for a book this year, and I want to spend as much time as possible on it. If I stay on track, then other reviews will pop up sometime. But I probably won't so this will be neglected for a little while. Until next time, readers. Whenever that will be.