Killing Them Softly

Andrew Dominik grabbed my attention quite forcefully with Chopper over a decade ago.  I was fairly obsessed with that film for a good long while and forced more than a few friends to sit through it.  Raucous, violent, upsetting and rather funny all at once, it heralded the emergence of a serious talent.  Then, 7 long years elapsed until his follow-up.  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an undeniable masterpiece, a stately epic detailing the psychologically sickening rise of hero worship in American pop culture.  Now we have been graced with his third feature, A cynical slap in the face to the very notion of the American dream.  Killing Them Softly serves as a malevolent refutation of our Country's political process, justice system and elected officials.

I've read a lot around the web and in print reviews about how this film is "too on the nose".  While I agree its intentions in regard to subtext are indisputably clear, I personally find the absence of coy subterfuge to be refreshing.  The single-minded purposefulness of the narrative gives the film great immediacy and presence.  Cloud Atlas and Life of Pi utilized a similarly up front approach, but where those films were proudly clothed in earnest humanism, Killing Them Softly deals in acidic political commentary.  It is trenchant in its outrage and disgust, but always honestly and with a point.

Setting the sordid tale in a post-Katrina New Orleans, seemingly abandoned by any law or government, is an excellent choice that mercilessly highlights the insalubrious state of our infrastructure.  Dominik's criminal microcosm of the 2008 financial meltdown is a blatant reflection of America as he sees it.  A corrupt land populated by naught but hit-men and whores, destitute addicts and doomed fall guys.  The machinations of its citizenry are petty, violent and pointless.  An endless succession of murderous consumption, motivated by greed and aimlessness.  The central conceit of the film seems to be that the civilized manner we as a country facilitate changes of power and mete out justice is merely a callous sham.  A convenient cover story to make our society's predatory, capitalist nature more palatable. 

Disheartening subject material to be sure, but Dominik digs into it with such gleeful abandon and experimental recklessness, it's hard not to have a grand time while contemplating it.  The film is alarmingly off kilter from its discordant opening credits to its shockingly blunt final lines of dialogue.  There's a great deal of innovation and imagination employed in the presentation of the film, which goes a long way toward making the admittedly familiar tale feel fresh.  It's also surprisingly intimate, giving us uncomfortable insight to the miserable and malicious lives its pitiable characters lead.

There isn't a bad (or indeed even mediocre) performance in the film, but Gandolfini and Pitt deserve special mention for what they bring to their roles.  Gandolfini is an abrasive surrogate for the modern Republican party, or perhaps simply for America itself.  A lurching behemoth drunk on past glory and incapable of moving forward.  He's a crass, despicable, self loathing monster.  He's got plenty he's angry about and no shortage of fingers to point for his innumerable woes.  The ultimate blockade to getting anything done, he plays marvelously off Pitt, especially when he snaps at him for being called out on his inefficacy. 

Pitt is essentially Obama.  The younger, handsomer, hungrier model of leader.  The up and comer who has a way of using comforting language to convince others to make choices that benefit him.  He has a plan to make the machine run in a smoother fashion, but absolutely no intention of revolutionizing the machine.  It's a tremendously charismatic performance and perfectly suited to his role.  Pitt continues to find fascinating ways of trading on his stardom to get unique films made and produce great work.  Yeah, we're cheering for him and in awe of how great he looks with that pompadour in that bitching leather jacket.  But then he drops that final speech on Richard Jenkins  and it becomes painfully clear who and what you've been supporting the whole film.

Killing Them Softly is a tremendous addition to the Andrew Dominik filmography.  Three great films in 12 years time works for me.  He's like Kubrick or P. T. Anderson in that his releases are events.  Something cinephiles in the know eagerly anticipate and joyfully relish.  I highly doubt it will be remembered come Awards season considering the equal opportunity skewering it gives both sides of the political aisle and hopeless attitude it has toward the possibility of change or redemption.  Maybe that's why I'm still smiling when I think on it though.  It's so brazen and fearless and sure of what it wants to say, I can't help but find that remarkably commendable.  Sometimes, a slap in the face is exactly what you need.