by Allan Tong for FILMbutton

Brad Pitt is Jackie Cogan, a hitman hired to restore order after three dumb junkies rob a card game run by the Mob.  In other words, the junkies rip off the wrong people and Cogan is dispatched to set these boys straight with a shotgun.

What Killing Them Softly really is is an homage to any number of gangster fims, the most obvious Tarantino’s as ultra-masculine lowlifes banter about trivial everyday matters then erupt in ultra-violence.  Seen this, done it.

Familiar faces include Ray Liotta who plays the poor sucker fronting the Mob’s card game and gets punished for the robbery.  James Gandolfini echoes his Tony Soprano role as another tough guy.  Pitt himself is seen only sporadically as the film lumbers forward.  A dazzling cast, sure, but not a thrilling movie.

Allan is a Toronto filmmaker, co-directing Leone Stars, a documentary about child victims of the Sierra Leonean civil war. He is also Content Editor for FILMbutton.