Reviewl Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly features Brad Pitt as a hitman who prefers to kill his targets softly, but also features a script that drives its point comparing Washington and Wall Street to the gangster underworld home a little too hard at times.

By the 4th or 5th time a excerpt from a Bush or Obama speech is played in the background the point starts to become a little laboured and the lack of subtlety shown is in contrast to the performances from the cast, with several stars like Ray Liotta and James Gandolfini playing against their charismatic calling cards shown in previous gangster classics to portray a cast of slimly, sleazy and crass characters.

Unlike The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward, Killing Them Softly comes in at just over 90 minutes, but still manages to go along at a slow pace - the world created is a compelling one, but the simple story feel like it would be better suited forming part of a longer story arc in something similar to The Sopranos, not quite working a single film.