Killing Them Softly Review - 3½ Stars

Brad Pitt rides into town to extract a little mob justice in “Killing Them Softly”.  He’s not the ordinary mob hit man but rather a loner who doesn’t like to get emotionally involved.  In other words, sort of a mid level corporate manager.  The action begins as two small time crooks stick up a mob controlled card game, knowing that Ray Liotta – who runs the game – once engineered a robbery to enrich himself and got away with it.  The stick up guys—played by Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn — are appropriately dumb and believable. Pitt, on the other hand, plays it cool, taking instructions from mob lawyer Richard Jenkins.  James Gandolfini shows up as a secondary hit man with a few too many emotional problems.  The story plays with the 2008 election and financial melt down playing out on various television sets and car radios. It makes a great counterpoint to the mob violence on screen, violence initiated in the name of getting the business back up and running.  Stylish and clever “Killing them Softly” delivers a punch to the gut.  Does it deliver what it promises?  Mob movie with an edge.  Is it entertaining?  Really compelling.  Is it worth the price of admission?  For those of you who don’t mind a little mind numbing violence—ok make that a lot of mind numbing violence.