Killing Them Softly (Andrew Dominik)

[transmogrifier]

72/100

A shark, one direction, a taste for blood and no pissing around with niceties. Most of the directorial affectations are aesthetically pleasing (the car hit) and of a piece with the themes - did you notice them? -of the film (the opening credits; the blatantly on-the-nose music queues), though I could have done without the first person perspective view of heroin use. Brad Pitt is merciless professionalism personified.

A rewatch may reveal extra layers now that the masters thesis is out in the open; one of those rare films where that could happen sooner rather than later.

[eternity]

How droll.

[Ezee E]

I don't know guys. Dominik lets his ideas get in the way of his story I think. When Dominik wants to truly direct, he'll direct the hell out of a scene. But when he wants to make a point, it's very monotonous. Gandolfini sells it the best with his vitriol and body language. But it gets captured in its ideals. I mean, I think they only call out the actual Election footage once, but it plays in almost every car and bar. With the types of gangsters at hand, that's already pushing it a little much.

It starts off with an amazing credit sequence. I really liked the use of sound with the title cards.

[Pop Trash]

Did anyone else think the final line:

[

Show Spoiler

"This is America. Now fucking pay me." Or whatever it was.

]

was kind of ripped from Goodfellas' "Fuck You. Pay me." voice over? Maybe it's just Ray Liotta's presence that made me think of that, but the more I think about this movie, this less I like it.

[transmogrifier]

Maybe it's just Ray Liotta's presence that made me think of that, but the more I think about this movie, this less I like it.

The reverse for me.

[Ezee E]

Did anyone else think the final line:

[

Show Spoiler

"This is America. Now fucking pay me." Or whatever it was.

]

was kind of ripped from Goodfellas' "Fuck You. Pay me." voice over? Maybe it's just Ray Liotta's presence that made me think of that, but the more I think about this movie, this less I like it.

Didn't think about it. The only time I had a Scorsese reference was when Liotta got mugged and there was a voiceover going on at the same time.

[Grouchy]

Yay, but marginally.

I think I loved the final scene so much that it made me forgive that the film is at times so slow and languid that it becomes unwatchable. James Gandolfini rants on about his experiences with whores and his relationship with his wife for years.

[MadMan]

I thought this was a great film, but that at times it didn't go far enough. Particularly with the political aspects and the violence. Still it was brutal and nasty enough to have meaning, and Brad Pitt turns in another fantastic performance. The dark comedy moments were a little on the Coen Brothers side, but not enough to be distracting-in fact I enjoyed them. Loved that final scene, too-and yeah I think that the line "Now fucking pay me" was a homage to that line from Godfellas.

[Qrazy]

All the Bush/Obama stuff was incredibly belaboured and certain stylistic choices were also too on the nose. All in all though a very well acted and written crime film. It's nice to have a small self-contained genre exercise once in a while. I grow weary of these crime pictures which attempt to cover an entire life.

[MadMan]

I will say I was kind of reminded of two crime movies: Slayground from the 80s and The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973). In terms of desperate criminals trying to survive in a harsh environment, anyways.

[Grouchy]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle and this one are based on novels by the same author, George Higgins. Never read anything by him but he sounds cool.

This film kind of grew favorably on my memory since I watched it the first time. I wouldn't mind seeing it again.

[megladon8]

Really liked this.

[baby doll]

It seems to me a pretty clear case of strained significance: Pointing out the parallels between the criminal underworld and Wall Street might've been a cute touch if mentioned in passing, but they just keep hammering this same point over and over.

[DavidSeven]

I appreciated its diminished scale and the fact that it didn't weigh down its plot with too many intricacies. I wish there were more self-contained crime films that aimed smaller like this. Having read The Friends of Eddie Coyle, I think Dominik does pretty well at capturing the spirit of George Higgins' non-glamorized lowlifes. The film opens well, and I thought the overt politicizing was actually an inspired touch. I just wish something more interesting happened after the film's central heist. The film's excellent closing scene is worthy of a better told story.

[MadMan]

Also I just thought about how Roger Ebert's harsh review of this film where he bashed the hell out of it was one of the last reviews he wrote.

[baby doll]

The Friends of Eddie Coyle and this one are based on novels by the same author, George Higgins. Never read anything by him but he sounds cool.

The Friends of Eddie Coyle is pretty amazing. It's told almost entirely through dialogue so the reader has to infer a lot based on context (such as the identity of the "spokesman" during the robbery scenes).