Killing Them Softly - B

Rated R, 97 minutes

"Killing Them Softly" is a compelling but talky crime drama

Brad Pitt in "Killing Them Softly"

Even bad guys are affected by the downturn in the economy, at least that's what the mildly enjoyable but talky new crime drama "Killing Them Softly" wants you to believe. Three dumb guys (Ben Mendelsohn, Vincent Curatola and Scott McNairy) who think they're smart rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the enforcer named Jackie hired by the mob to track them down and restore order. Well-acted and entertaining, "Killing Them Softly" is what might happen if "Goodfellas" or "The Sopranos" were put on a tight budget. The slow-moving, occasionally darkly amusing film is more talky than you might think yet much of it still works, though its political agenda throws it off track a bit. "Softly," directed and written by Andrew Dominik ("The Assassination of Jesse James") and loosely based on George V. Higgins 1974 crime novel "Coogan's Trade," the film considerably updates the novel so that it's set against the U.S. economic meltdown in the fall of 2008, clearly evident every time someone turns on the radio or TV, which happens frequently throughout the  film. Dominik stages most scenes well but also stages them too long, though he plays to his actors strengths in what is really an ensemble piece rather than the Pitt vehicle it's advertised as. Pitt's role is essentially a supporting one, and he's joined well by crime film and TV stalwarts "Goodfellas" Ray Liotta (slimy as usual) and "The Sopranos" James Gandolfini, not to mention strong character actors in Mendelsohn, Sam Shepard and Richard Jenkins, who plays off Pitt quite well. "Killing Them Softly" is darkly amusing, chatty and not as important as it seems, but still worth a look if you like this sort of thing.

Wes's Grade: B