Killing Them Softly

Killing Them Softly (stylized in marketing as killing them softly) is a 2012 American neo-noir crime film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Brad Pitt. Based on George V. Higgins' 1974 novel Cogan's Trade, the story follows Jackie Cogan, a hitman who is hired to deal with the aftermath of a Mafia poker game robbery that ruptured the criminal economy; the events are set during the 2008 United States presidential election and financial crisis. Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, and Sam Shepard also star. On May 22, 2012, the film premiered in competition for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and received positive early reviews. Killing Them Softly was released on November 30, 2012, domestically by The Weinstein Company and internationally by Inferno Distribution to mostly positive reviews, even though general audiences were less receptive to the film. It grossed $37.9 million against a budget of $15 million. Plot During the American financial crisis and presidential election campaign of 2008, Johnny "Squirrel" Amato plans to rob a Mafia poker game. He enlists Frankie, a former business associate, and Russell, a heroin-addicted Australian expatriate who is stealing purebred dogs for money. They decide to target a game run by Markie Trattman, who is known to have previously orchestrated an inside job by paying two men to rob his own illegal poker game. Squirrel anticipates that Markie will be the obvious suspect, and the Mafia will simply have him killed without investigating further. Frankie and Russell, although obviously amateurs, do the holdup and leave with the money. Afterwards, a mafioso named Driver hires hitman Jackie Cogan to deal with the situation as mob-operated poker games have stopped operating for fear of another robbery. Although Jackie correctly intuits Markie was uninvolved with the recent heist, he believes Markie still needs to die since he looks guilty, and an example needs to be made to discourage further robberies, but not without reluctantly arranging for Markie to suffer a beating by mobsters Steve and Barry at Driver's behest.