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KILLING THEM SOFTLYMovie Reviews
Drama about a professional hit man who investigates a heist that went down during a mob-protected poker game. Cast:Brad Pitt, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelson, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Vincent Caratola, Slaine, Max CasellaDirector:Andrew DominikRelease Date:November 30, 2012DVD Release:March 26, 2013From:The Weinstein CompanyRating:RLength:1 hr 44 min
Killing Them Softly played to good reviews that at the same time were mixed. • Ty Burr wrote in the Boston Globe, "...bleakly comic, brutally Darwinian.... A good actor can do marvelous work with the gift of words, and Andrew Dominik hands the dialogue out like it's Christmas." • And Tom Long wrote in the Detroit News, "...all attitude and very little human." More Reviews Below...
Killing Them Softly Positive Reviews (51 Reviews, reviews below)
Kevin O'Donnell, People: VERY GOOD(cg) "...bleak, darkly comic... a smart, gripping update of classic Mob fare -- it's a hoot to see James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta playing vulnerable crooks instead of kingpins..."(See all of Kevin O'Donnell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 198 words, 11/29/12
Richard Corliss, Time: MODERATE "...a timid, subpar grafting of the immortal 'Pulp Fiction' -- with art-house pretensions... the only thing that truly rewards is Pitt in another effortless star performance."(See all of Richard Corliss's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,026 words, 05/25/12
Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: VERY GOOD(cg) "Brad Pitt is a bright spot in this pitch-black mob drama.... The film's gritty sheen and subversive humor recall 'The Sopranos' ' finest episodes..."(See all of Mara Reinstein's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 122 words, 11/29/12
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...a lurid and nasty little nihilistic hitman noir, with an ingenuity that sneaks up on you.... a mesmerizing tale of kill-or-be-killed capitalist desperation."(See all of Owen Gleiberman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 537 words, 11/30/12
Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the acting is aces, especially Pitt mixing it up with the superb James Gandolfini, as an assassin losing his game... They make this a potently nasty provocation."(See all of Peter Travers's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 185 words, 11/23/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...a dismal, dreary series of cruel and painful murders, mostly by men who know one another, in a barren city where it's usually night, often rainy..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 11/30/12
Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: EXCELLENT(cg) "...a bit of a stretch... [but] it all leads up to a punch line so thoroughly anti-inspirational and mordantly funny and just about perfect that it redeems the excess..."(See all of Glenn Kenny's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 757 words, 11/28/12
James Berardinelli, Reel Views: OUTSTANDING(cg) "2012's answer to 'Mean Streets'.... compulsively watchable with long passages of dialogue, instances of scathing black humor, and sequences that are ripe with tension."(See all of James Berardinelli's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 721 words, 11/29/12
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NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES/CHICAGO/TORONTO (14 Reviews)
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the film has an agreeably scuzzy, small-time feeling.... it's sapped of vitality by its own self-conscious, curatorial fastidiousness."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 11/30/12
Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Pitt makes Jackie a scruffily generous soul... Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, Sam Shepard and a chewy supporting cast beautifully fill in the blanks."(See all of Joe Neumaier's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 453 words, 11/30/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "Dominick has proved to have a taste for blood in the tradition of Peckinpah and Tarantino.... violence that is exceedingly brutal and at times eerily beautiful."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 972 words, 11/30/12
Kyle Smith, New York Post: MODERATE(cg) "This is Dominik's third movie, but putting your themes in all capital letters, and putting the capital letters in neon, is a rookie mistake."(See all of Kyle Smith's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 703 words, 11/30/12
Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: VERY GOOD(cg) "...offers some easy, brutal laughs and some harder ones, and now and then, it finds a way to make the laughter stick in your craw... pungent..."(See all of Michael Phillips's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 641 words, 11/30/12
Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: MODERATE(cg) "...filled with fine performances.... A potentially tense and gritty crime flick, but Dominik turns it into a heavy-handed analogy of the 2008 financial crisis."(See all of Rafer Guzman's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 354 words, 11/30/12
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: MODERATE(cg) "...a dismal, dreary series of cruel and painful murders, mostly by men who know one another, in a barren city where it's usually night, often rainy..."(See all of Roger Ebert's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 739 words, 11/30/12
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "...tells, tells, and tells again, its vibrant conjuring of contemporary cynicism felled by Andrew Dominik's lack of faith in his audience's ability to connect thematic dots."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 284 words, 11/28/12
Peter Howell, Toronto Star: VERY GOOD(cg) "This is a deeply cynical movie, with not much to say but a lot to feel. Everything sinks into your bones... It's nothing new, but it's smartly done..."(See all of Peter Howell's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 574 words, 11/30/12
Liam Lacey, Toronto Globe & Mail: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a stylish, brutal affair that delivers grim atmosphere and punishing violence but loses impact in telegraphing its political punches."(See all of Liam Lacey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 582 words, 11/30/12
Josep Parera, La Opinion: VERY GOOD(cg) "El relato se resiente debido a una falta de intensidad narrativa que convierte al conjunto en un mar de situaciones conocidas y visitadas en mil y un filme previo."(See all of Josep Parera's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 490 words, 11/30/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Dominik's not doing anything Elmore Leonard, Quentin Tarantino and dozens of imitators haven't done before. He's just doing it more insistently..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 212 words, 11/29/12
KEY CITIES (13 Reviews)
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: MODERATE(cg) "...possesses a modicum of swagger and style, even as it perpetuates some of the crime genre's more tedious cliches, from slow-motion savagery to facile cynicism."(See all of Ann Hornaday's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 557 words, 11/30/12
Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING(cg) "Jolting, suspenseful, full of twisted sympathy for its goons' row of characters, and wickedly amusing to boot..."(See all of Steven Rea's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 554 words, 11/30/12
Kristin Tillotson, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: MODERATE(cg) "Clever dialogue can make up for one-dimensional characters, and amped-up action can disguise a thin plot. Here, we get too little of either."(See all of Kristin Tillotson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 606 words, 11/30/12
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: VERY GOOD(cg) "...gritty, entertaining (if incredibly violent)... The brutality is striking and, on at least one occasion, kind of artsy. At times it's fitting, at times overdone."(See all of Bill Goodykoontz's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 568 words, 11/30/12
Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...bleakly comic, brutally Darwinian.... A good actor can do marvelous work with the gift of words, and Andrew Dominik hands the dialogue out like it's Christmas."(See all of Ty Burr's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,058 words, 11/30/12
Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...if the cynical politics don't fit yours, you can also enjoy the film as simply a bit of stylishly shot, nicely acted, hardboiled noir."(See all of Stephen Whitty's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 548 words, 11/30/12
Soren Andersen, Seattle Times: VERY GOOD(cg) "...the best adaptation of a tale by the late hard-boiled crime-fiction writer George Higgins since 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle.' "(See all of Soren Andersen's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 414 words, 11/30/12
Marc Mohan, Portland Oregonian: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "Pitt doesn't do much with his role, poised uneasily between smirking bad boy and implacable fatal force... Dominick's furious message comes across anything but softly."(See all of Marc Mohan's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 452 words, 11/30/12
Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...a vivid trip through the lower depths, but the political commentary that's riding shotgun is so heavy-handed that it chokes the life out of the movie."(See all of Joe Williams's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 483 words, 11/30/12
Steve Persall, Tampa Bay Times: GOOD(cg) "Subtle as a sledgehammer... a procession of shoot-ups and beat-downs filmed with fetish. If you're into seeing people die stylishly messy, this is the movie for you."(See all of Steve Persall's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 420 words, 11/29/12
Cary Darling, Miami Herald: GOOD (NOT GREAT)(cg) "...bloody, self-serious... we get it: the world of street-level thuggery is meant to parallel presumed crimes in bank boardrooms and government chambers."(See all of Cary Darling's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 533 words, 11/30/12
ALTERNATIVE/INDIE PRESS (10 Reviews)
Karina Longworth, Village Voice/LA Weekly: WEAK "...tells, tells, and tells again, its vibrant conjuring of contemporary cynicism felled by Andrew Dominik's lack of faith in his audience's ability to connect thematic dots."(See all of Karina Longworth's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 284 words, 11/28/12
Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: WEAK(cg) "...it's either a failed comedy or a stale drama.... the incredible cast makes little impact because the film lacks focus.... a mess of allegory and violence."(See all of Katey Rich's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 714 words, 11/27/12
Brett Michel, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING(cg) "...incorporates enough of George V. Higgins's crackling, location-specific dialogue to have you recalling that greatest of all Boston-set films, 'The Friends of Eddie Coyle.' "(See all of Brett Michel's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 154 words, 12/06/12
Scott Tobias, AV Club: EXCELLENT(cg) "Dominik knows his way around a breath-stopping suspense setpiece, but his ambition to do more is encouraging, even when it isn't wholly successful."(See all of Scott Tobias's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 562 words, 11/29/12
Cynthia Fuchs, Pop Matters: EXCELLENT(cg) "...violence and sex are interchangeable... money is the only thinkable point of any endeavor.... It's about the relationship between image and effect..."(See all of Cynthia Fuchs's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 870 words, 11/30/12
Calum Marsh, Slant: WEAK(cg) "The film's cynicism, like everything else, is nothing more than empty posturing, a fashionable pose adopted to ingratiate itself with a disenfranchised public."(See all of Calum Marsh's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 640 words, 11/11/12
Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: WEAK(cg) "Dominik's not doing anything Elmore Leonard, Quentin Tarantino and dozens of imitators haven't done before. He's just doing it more insistently..."(See all of Norman Wilner's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 212 words, 11/29/12
MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: EXCELLENT(cg) "...turns a very American mythology of crime and violence in on itself and from that inversion yanks out a mirror with which to show us a startling reflection of America."(See all of MaryAnn Johanson's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 877 words, 11/27/12
HIGHBROW PRESS (7 Reviews)
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "As a gangster thriller, it is long on violence and short on thrills... for all its visual felicities, the film comes to life only sporadically."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 11/30/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the film has an agreeably scuzzy, small-time feeling.... it's sapped of vitality by its own self-conscious, curatorial fastidiousness."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 11/30/12
Anthony Lane, New Yorker: VERY GOOD "...you feel the juddering impact of low life against the high hopes on which politics and community spirit rely, and it leaves you shaking."(See all of Anthony Lane's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,106 words, 11/26/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "Dominick has proved to have a taste for blood in the tradition of Peckinpah and Tarantino.... violence that is exceedingly brutal and at times eerily beautiful."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 972 words, 11/30/12
Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: GOOD "...a severe and stylish movie whose connection to the real world is almost entirely metaphorical... it has a weird, buzzing, intense quality..."(See all of Andrew O'Hehir's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 1,118 words, 11/29/12
MOVIE INDUSTRY (6 Reviews)
Justin Chang, Daily Variety: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "A routine, even mundane crime story... the picture's restraint places a considerable burden on the actors to maintain interest, which they shoulder impressively."(See all of Justin Chang's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 848 words, 05/22/12
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: EXCELLENT "...juicy, bloody, grimy, profane... terribly smart in every respect, with ne'er-a-false note performances and superb craft work from top to bottom, but it never lets you forget it..."(See all of Todd McCarthy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 833 words, 05/22/12
Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: GOOD "Dominick has proved to have a taste for blood in the tradition of Peckinpah and Tarantino.... violence that is exceedingly brutal and at times eerily beautiful."(See all of Betsy Sharkey's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 972 words, 11/30/12
Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: EXCELLENT(cg) "What elevates this above the routine crimers and hit men sagas is the sharp characterization of the central quintet and the superlative acting..."(See all of Emanuel Levy's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 855 words, 05/23/12
A.O. Scott, New York Times: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "...the film has an agreeably scuzzy, small-time feeling.... it's sapped of vitality by its own self-conscious, curatorial fastidiousness."(See all of A.O. Scott's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 620 words, 11/30/12
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: FAIR "As a gangster thriller, it is long on violence and short on thrills... for all its visual felicities, the film comes to life only sporadically."(See all of Joe Morgenstern's reviews...)(Read the full review...) 587 words, 11/30/12
19.7 Percentage Points Average Difference Between Reviews (Norm is 18.4pp; <18.4pp = More Consistent; >18.4pp = More Mixed)
Killing Them Softly's reviews are separated by an average 19.7 percentage points. The norm for this measure is 18.4 percentage points. Less than 18.4 indicates more consistent reviews; greater than 18.4 indicates more mixed reviews. In the chart below, each dot represents a review, with the dots at the top more positive than the dots at the bottom. From left to right, the dots represent reviews in big, bigger and biggest publications. Roll over each dot for more detail.
Killing Them Softly (51 reviews) Roll over dots for each review
Coverage:Killing Them Softly's reviews cover 99.7% of potential readers (average is 67.9%). Volume:The film's reviews total 30,984 words involume (average is 20,194 words). Length:The film's reviews average 608 words in length (the norm is 517 words).
Reviews Broke 25 Days Before Release (Norm is 1.2 Release)
Killing Them Softly's reviews on average broke 25 days before opening. Norm for this measure is 1.2 hours before. The chart below shows reviews on opening day and the days before and after opening; the left side is earlier and the right side is later. The red bars extending above the horizontal mid-line represent more positive reviews, and the red bars extending below represent more negative reviews. The white space/red bar in the middle is Killing Them Softly's opening day. Click on any bar for a list of the reviews for that day.
Killing Them Softly (51 reviews, click on bars for reviews)
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