Killing Them Softly

We've all seen crime dramas about the Mob and even if it is done well i.e. production values, acting, cinematography, etc., we've seen so-o many that they tend to become a bit old. Well, with "Killing Them Softly", with the exception of the acting, we still get that script that we've seen all too much and want to scream, "Is there no other original slant on this genre?"

Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt) is an enforcer hired to restore order after three dumb, crude crooks, Frankie (Scoot McNairy), Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) who are headed up by Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) decide to rob a Mob protected poker game officiated by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), causing the local criminal economy to collapse which really angers Dillon (Sam Shepard) a Mob leader.
Jackie hires a fellow hit man, Mickey (James Gandolfini) to help him with these 'hits', but not seeing him in two years, it turns out that Mickey has his own set of problems that completely perplexes Jackie where he even suspects Mickey's ability to fulfill the hit he's being paid to do.

Others to round out the cast are Richard Jenkins as Driver, Trevor Long as Steve Caprio, Max Casella as Barry Caprio, Slaine as Kenny Gill, and Linara Washington as Hooker.

This was written and directed by Andrew Dominik ("Chopper" 2000, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" '07). The direction was spot on-- the pacing, the frenetic feel of the characters, however, the writing is clearly a different story. First of all, it moved so slowly even though it was only a 97 minute running time, and secondly, it kind of jumped around too much--the adhesiveness of the script was disjointed at places. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't a total wash--the premise, Mob against Mob was intriguing, but the execution needed more work.

If you are into fine acting, specifically Pitt, McNairy,and Mendelsohn, you will revel, but only if that's all one is looking for. Pitt could be nominated come Oscar time, but not even he was enough to save this attempt.

Out of 4 stars: 2.5                      Rated: R                          97mins.