Cannes Critics’ Panel Day 7: Andrew Dominik’s Killing Them Softly

We’re officially past the midway point of the festival, and it’s sort of fitting that in a U.S. heavy year that we wind up with Andrew Dominik’s third feature film and second in the row starring Brad Pitt (they previously worked together on 2007’s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford). Formerly titled “Cogan’s Trade”, set amongst the backdrop of the U.S. economic downturn when Bush passed on the torch to an awaiting Obama, Killing Them Softly feels like an East Coast mobster tale about making a quick buck. Starring Scott McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, James Gandolfini, Richard Jenkins and Ray Liotta, Dominik’s MO is stylized violence, heavy conversation scenes and an almost 70’s POV. For some critics this might be the best U.S title to play in the fest, for others this is a non-factor. Click on the image for the latest grid!