Andrew Dominik

'Killing Them Softly' flopped painfully at the US box office with takings of only $7 million on its opening weekend.

Despite its Hollywood hero protagonist Brad Pitt, Andrew Dominik's adaption of George V. Higgins' novel 'Cogan's Trade' did not receive the response expected at its opening this weekend. Various interesting thoughts have since been brought up as to why, perhaps, it didn't garner the attention it was hoping for. For example, it has been suggested that the genre, excessively bloody black comedy, has been overdone recently in recent flicks such as Martin McDonagh's 'Seven Psychopaths' and Matthew Vaughn's 'Kick-Ass' and therefore has lost its appeal. Other suggestions have been that it is simply the director's work being mediocre as this is one of the biggest flops in Brad Pitt's career not unlike 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford' which was also directed by Dominik. 

Bad reviews have also been factors to blame for the second-rate box office ratings but Brad Pitt himself was also slated as hindering the movie's success due to attracting the wrong audiences and ultimately disappointing them. We can't imagine it will be too much of a blow for Pitt though, who will probably only be upset that he has less money to give to the needy after donating £700 in a charity whip round while filming in Dorset, England, this summer.

Killing Them Softly, with its emphatic and stylised violence, dark comedic attendances and wide-ranging, hugely talented cast, isn't for everyone, apparently. You could probably say that about every film ever made, though.

"You have the happy reaction and the unhappy reaction," director Andrew Dominik told The L.A Times of the filmgoers who've seen the film. "There are the people who think they're going to see a straight-ahead thriller and don't like all this other [stuff], and then you have the people who see it and they're happy there's more depth." Dominik worked with arguably the film's biggest star, Brad Pitt on The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, which was a commercial and critical flop. He's been honest about that in the past, and speaks with a similar cadence of his latest project. "It does ask things of the audience. I wouldn't be happy with myself if it didn't," he said. "This is embarrassing to admit, but I was trying to make a more commercially accessible movie."

Dede Gardner also speaks candidly on the film; "If anyone is surprised, it's not through any deception on our part. We were really upfront from the beginning that this was something unique," she said. "If you read the script and saw the devotion to dialogue you would have concluded it was going to try to reach something more and different." She called the movie "smart and ferocious and violent" and noted that "there's not a gratuitous frame in the film."

Brad Pitt's latest film, the action flick Killing Them Softly, has divided critics so far in recent screenings, however one thing that everyone seems to be able to agree with is that Pitt's performance is well worth the admission fee alone.

Director Andrew Dominik's film follows Pitt as the tough-as-nails mob enforcer forced  to clean up the mess created by group of small timers following a poorly thought-out heist. Working with the director of The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford for the second time, Pitt and Dominik have once again made a film that hasn't quite won over everyone, yet Pitt has proven to be the one thing that everyone could agree on.

One review of the film, by the Associated Press, highlights Pitt for the ease in which he inhabits his character, describing it as "one of those effortless Pitt performances that exemplify how beautifully he manages to be both a serious actor and a superstar." This and most other reviews of the film are equally as gushing of Pitt, yet are keen to highlight the foibles the film possesses, with the large majority of critics bemoaning the film for being far too preachy and not nearly as straight to the point as it should be.

Continue reading: Brad Pitt Steals The Show In 'Killing Them Softly'

The highlight of this week’s movie releases is, unarguable. This is the time of year that many major releases come smothered in a blanket of ‘will it / won’t it’ chatter, with regards to Oscar nominations. The run-up to the release of the Brad Pitt-starring Killing Them Softly has been muted, though and it looks as though the Academy might be glossing over this particular mob tale.

Of course, gangster stories, in themselves, are nothing new in Hollywood but Killing Them Softly is showing signs of being one of the better ones. The perfect mix of dark drama and dark humour, Pitt leads a stellar cast, including James Gandolfini, and Ray Liotta (gangster movie essentials, no?) and director Andrew Domink has wooed the critics, thus far, causing Andrew O’Hehir of Salon.com to comment “It has a weird, buzzing, intense quality that has burrowed its way deep into my brain like some invasive sci-fi organism.” It remains to be seen, though, whether the folk over at the Academy decide it’s worthy of a nod.

Watch the trailer for Killing Them Softly

Continue reading: Hot Tickets! This Weekend’s US Movie Releases, Killing Them Softly, The Collection, Universal Soldier, Craptastic (Addicted To Fame)