PicoBlog

9/10

The most striking thing about the organized criminals of the Mafia in Killing Them Softly is that they face more accountability than the organized criminals at the highest levels of the U.S. state and banking sector. Though based on the 1974 novel Cogan’s Trade by George V. Higgins, Killing Them Softly takes place against the backdrop of the 2008 financial crisis and U.S. presidential election. Setting the story in this time and place brings new meaning to the story of a Mafia poker game robbery and the hitman brought in to “deal with” the perpetrators.

One of the prime suspects in the robbery is Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), who previously orchestrated an inside job by paying two men to rob an illegal poker game he had organized. Even though Markie had nothing to do with the second robbery, the aforementioned hitman, Jackie Cogan (Brad Pitt), explains how the mere fact Markie appears guilty means he need to die. The poker game robbery has thrown the entire criminal economy into chaos, with mobsters reluctant to organize any further poker games. If the mob does not make an example of Markie, Jackie says, it will only encourage more robberies.

Throughout Killing Them Softly, TVs in the background blare speeches from then president George W. Bush and soon-to-be-president Barack Obama, which provide a running commentary and counterpoint to the story. Consider Bush’s Sept. 19, 2008 speech explaining why the U.S. government is bailing out the banks, which can be heard in the film:

America's financial system is intricate and complex. But behind all the technical terminology and statistics is a critical human factor -- confidence. Confidence in our financial system and in its institutions is essential to the smooth operation of our economy, and recently that confidence has been shaken. Investors should know that the United States government is taking action to restore confidence in America's financial markets so they can thrive again.

Like the U.S. government, the Mafia in Killing Them Softly needs to restore confidence in its own economy. But the means by which these two groups of criminals try to do so couldn’t be more different. The mob decides that the low-level thugs who robbed their poker game, the boss who ordered them to do so, and even someone who merely appears to be guilty must all die.

By comparison, the U.S. state immediately moved to save the bankers, speculators, and swindlers who drove the economy off a cliff. The Bush and Obama administrations guaranteed them an essentially endless supply of taxpayer money to cover their bad debts, which the bankers used to reward themselves with fat bonuses even as millions of workers lost their jobs and homes. Twelve years later, the Trump administration offered an even bigger bailout, enacting the largest upward transfer of wealth in U.S. history with the CARES Act. The Biden administration has likewise continued to bail out the banks, no matter how much it tries to avoid the word “bailout”. While the gangsters in Killing Them Softly are punished for their crimes, the gangsters at the top in corporate America are protected and rewarded every time.

One of the refreshing aspects of Killing Them Softly is its juxtaposition of politicians’ insincere speeches with the harsh reality of American life. The opening finds petty criminal Frankie (Scott McNairy) wandering around a dilapidated Boston neighbourhood, as Obama drones on over the soundtrack with his patented high-sounding yet meaningless pap. Frankie meets up with heroin-addicted Australian expat Russell (Ben Mendelsohn), with whom he will carry out the Mafia poker robbery. Both men are dirty, unkempt, and clearly in need of money if they are willing to risk putting targets on their backs by stealing from mobsters at gunpoint. Simply by presenting the desolate landscape of an America hollowed out by decades of de-industrialization, offshoring, upward transfer of wealth from workers to the rich, erosion of the social safety net, and exploding gun violence, writer and director Anthony Dominik exposes the chasm between the rhetoric of the capitalist class and the grim despair of workers, the poor, and the lumpenproletariat.

The actors all do a fine job, but the standout is James Gandolfini as Mickey Fallon, another hitman Jackie brings in to help him him kill those responsible for the poker robbery. While Jackie speaks admirably of Mickey’s abilities, when the older man shows up, he does little more than drink incessantly and have sex with prostitutes. Gandolfini brings so much presence that he’s easily a highlight of the movie. Mickey spits out his anger at the world and speaks with bravado that covers up an underlying sense of sadness and regret. He’s uninterested in carrying out the job he was hired to do, and unable to continue working in the old ways.

In the same way, capitalism has exhausted any progressive historical role it once played. The 2008 financial crisis was an expression of a system no longer able to move society forward, and represented the onset of a new historical period characterized by revolutions and counter-revolutions, such as the Arab Spring. As Lenin wrote in 1920, “For a revolution to take place it is not enough for the exploited and oppressed masses to realize the impossibility of living in the old way, and demand changes; for a revolution to take place it is essential that the exploiters should not be able to live and rule in the old way.”

As Jackie, Pitt brings his usual screen presence. Unlike Michael Fassbender’s assassin in The Killer, Jackie is honest about the effort required for his job to overcome feelings of empathy and compassion. In one scene, Jackie explains his philosophy of killing to a mysterious criminal boss known only as Driver (Richard Jenkins), describing the “touchy-feely” nature of killing someone. “They cry,” Jackie says of his victims. “They plead. They beg. They piss themselves. They call for their mothers. It gets embarrassing. I like to kill them softly, from a distance. Not close enough for feelings. Don't like feelings. Don't want to think about them.” There’s a similarity between Jackie’s philosophy of “killing them softly” and the acts of CEOs and bankers who lay off hundreds or thousands of workers and throw them out of their homes; or to politicians who order mass killings from a safe distance.

My favourite moment in the film is when Jackie is arguing with Driver over his fee for carrying out the three hits, during which Obama is giving his presidential victory speech. Jackie scoffs at Obama’s words, and it’s a rare pleasure to hear someone in a Hollywood film call out Obama for the charlatan he is. "This guy wants to tell me we're living in a community?” Jackie says. “Don't make me laugh. I'm living in America, and in America, you're on your own. America is not a country; it's just a business. Now fucking pay me."

Under capitalist rule, Jackie’s cynicism is correct and justified. It’s ironic to hear Obama supporters chanting his campaign slogan of “Yes we can!” The war criminal Obama spent his entire presidency telling supporters “No we can’t” in regards to progressive policies he claimed to support, ruling like every president strictly on behalf of the U.S. capitalist class. Obama ran on “change” and spent the next eight years ensuring, as his vice-president Joe Biden later told rich donors during his own presidential campaign, that “nothing would fundamentally change.” In this way Obama paved the way for Trump. Since departing the Oval Office, Obama has cashed in while workers and the poor grow ever more desperate. Like Jackie, all Obama cares about is getting paid and looking out for number one. I respect an honest criminal like Jackie more than a dishonest one like Obama.

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