Brad has given interviews on Good Morning America and Nightline
REVIEW: Brad Pitt Makes One Glorious Bastard In Stylish, Self-Conscious ‘Killing Them Softly’
Killing Them Softly is set in Boston, maybe. Someone mentions living in Somerville, a scattering of the characters have the accent, and they talk about going down to Florida. But the film was shot in New Orleans, often in the industrial edges still ragged from Hurricane Katrina, and the only people who seem to inhabit its universe are gangsters — high level ones with pretentions of civility and hardscrabble losers struggling to get a few dollars together by way of hazardous schemes. What ties this abstract, violent place to the real world is the 2008 presidential election, which provides a backdrop for its tale of an ill-advised robbery and the guy brought in to clean up after it. There’s George W. Bush talking about the bailout on a TV in the corner as two guys knock over a card game; there’s Barack Obama promising change on a billboard over a neighborhood filled with empty lots and abandoned houses. It’s a neat idea, matching the brisk kill-or-be-killed business of unforgiving criminal life to an America staggering from the economic crisis. But as in his last feature, the gorgeous and stiltedly self-conscious The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Australian filmmaker Andrew Dominik shows a tendency to lean too hard on his symbolism rather than letting it exist as part of the whole. In Jesse James it was the tying in of the last days of the outlaw to a meditation on celebrity. Here, it’s the capitalism-as-a-disease parallels on a national and narrative scale that start to feel on the nose long before a character barks “America’s not a country, it’s a business — now fucking pay me!” and Barrett Strong’s “Money (That’s What I Want)” plays over the closing credits. But when Dominik, working off his own screenplay adaptation of a novel by George V. Higgins, is less focused on trying to make an important movie, he turns out an indisputably fun one, a stylish and flamboyantly macho affair that cribs pleasantly from Mamet, Blue Velvet, Tarantino and Scorsese. The film starts with Frankie (Scoot McNairy), a ferrety guy recently out of prison and eager to convince his Australian pal Russell (Ben Mendelsohn, memorably scary in Animal Kingdom) to get in with him on a job. Russell’s working his own scheme involving kidnapping purebred dogs and using the money to buy an ounce of heroin and become a dealer, but Frankie’s pal Johnny (Vincent Curatola) has what he claims is a foolproof gig. They’ll rob a poker game run by a guy named Markie (Ray Liotta), who arranged to hold up his own game once in the past and got away with it. The games are protected, but if his gets robbed again everyone will assume he’s the one behind it. Killing Them Softly starts off with its main heist, if it can be called that, and then turns to the fallout, letting things rattle along for a considerable amount of time before introducing Jackie (Brad Pitt), a guy who can’t really be described as a hero or antihero. Jackie’s a fixer and a hitman who’s filling in for the last go-to guy, Dillon (Sam Shepard, glimpsed only in flashbacks), and he’s a competent, no nonsense figure in a world full of fuck-ups. Dominik’s film is interesting in that the crimes themselves, whether stick-ups or killings, are rarely difficult — it’s the aftermath that gets people in trouble, when they can’t keep their mouths shut about what they just pulled off or don’t know when to cut their losses and get out of town. Dominik shows an open appreciation for his actors and for the way tough guys, aspiring and genuine, talk to each other — and Killing Them Softly is as much centered around talking as it is action. Pitt, playing a practical know-it-all who falls somewhere between Rusty Ryan and Tyler Durden, is terribly entertaining shooting the shit with Driver (Richard Jenkins), the representative of the unspecified group who hired him, the two complaining about the new “total corporate mentality” like disgruntled office workers on a smoke break. Later, he brings in Mickey (James Gandolfini) from New York to help out, and watches him with worried calculation as he turns out to be in rough shape. If gangsterism is just capitalism in a more raw form, then Jackie is the creature best suited for this world. He knows the rules and enforces them without prejudice, because it’s just business and this is just a job. Killing Them Softly doesn’t give that idea its intended sting. The film wants to be angry and scathing, but, to its credit, enjoys its characters and its mechanics too much to have a sharp edge. Whether it’s showing someone’s death in a luxurious slow motion spray of bullets and glass or lingering as someone drunkenly reminisces about a girl he sometimes sleeps with but has no hold on, the film is too fond of its rich details to allow them to become damning symbols of the system in which they can be found.
I’ve added a brand new photoshoot of Brad Pitt taken yesterday during the “Killing Them Softly” promotion and he is looking gorgeous! Thanks to Claudia. Enjoy!
Pictures of Brad Pitt on the New York screening of “Killing Them Softly” are up the gallery. The movie opens this friday.
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If there’s one important thing to like about Brad Pitt — and there are many likable traits to choose from — it’s the fact that the celebrated actor uses his celebrity power to do good things for people and the world.
When MTV News caught up with Pitt recently during the press day for “Killing Them Softly,” his upcoming crime-thriller-with-a-message, we asked for his thoughts on the socially progressive results in the recent election on the issues of legalizing gay marriage — a cause Pitt publicly supports — and marijuana in some states.
“Equality, absolutely, that’s what defines us. It’s what makes us great,” Pitt said when asked about what he thinks about Maine, Maryland and Washington legalizing gay marriage. “If it doesn’t sit well with your religion, let your God sort it out in the end, but that’s us. We’re equal.”
One thing that has Pitt scratching his head, however, is the fact that gay marriage and the legalization of marijuana are being linked together in the media.
“I don’t understand that,” he said, adding that the two issues should be treated with equal but separate importance and media coverage. “I do believe that we should be responsible for our own choices in talking about the drug laws, and that the drug war is an ultimate failure and that the billions and billions of dollars that we’ve committed to it, there’s got to be a better way. I don’t believe in incarceration over education — don’t get me started. But there’s real damage to drugs; that is not the same as with gay marriage. Since the last round [of elections], they’ve been linked in every article. I find that curious.”
And while the actor/philanthropist has no problem continuing to talk about and bring public awareness to the issues, he’s dreading the time when he has to have the “Say No to Drugs” conversation with his children.
“I think there’s an age of understanding and there’s a reason why there are no old drug addicts: It either kills you or you get out,” he said. “I’m going to leave it at that point right there.”
A new trailer for Killing Them Softly, opening on November 30th is out:
Here is the synopsis:
Adapted from George V. Higgins’ novel and set in New Orleans, Killing Them Softly follows professional enforcer, Jackie Cogan (Pitt), who investigates a heist that occurs during a high stakes, mob-protected, poker game. The film also features Scoot McNairy (Monsters), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), with James Gandolfini, Vincent Curatola, Max Casella and Sam Shepard among others.
Brad Pitt is among other celebrities who supports Male Cancer Awareness and has signed/donated his Gucci Bow Tie which is up for auction on eBay via www.loosenupauction.com/.
Here is the full Press Release:
BRAD PITT AMONG CELEBS DONATING TIES THIS INTERNATIONAL MENS DAY FOR MALE CANCER EBAY CAMPAIGN
Brad Pitt, and a host of the world’s best loved and well-known house-hold names from Music, Film, TV and sport have pledged their support to male cancer awareness this International Men’s Day, by donating their signed and exclusive items all to be auctioned as part of the Cahonas Scotland ‘Loosen Up’ eBay campaign.
With men often “tongue tied” when discussing or dealing with male health issues it is hoped that the auction and campaign will provide an innovative way to help bring positive change in Male Cancer Awareness.
Brad Pitt has kindly donated one his owned and worn Gucci Bow Ties which he has signed. Other top celebrities who have been “positive role models” to the campaign, International Men Days 2012 theme, include One Direction and Damian Lewis as well as international stars Katy Perry and Killers front man Brandon Flowers.
Enthusiastic fans eager to get their hands on their favourite stars item can go online to bid from Monday 19th November until Sunday 25th November via the Cahonas Scotland eBay store by visiting the link www.loosenupauction.com. All money raised will help Cahonas Scotland to advance education of the public in matters relating to male cancers and to undertake where necessary the prevention of discrimination and stigma arising from diagnosis and the cancer experience.
Commenting on the launch of this years ‘Loosen Up’ campaign, Cahonas Scotland Founder and Chair, Ritchie Marshall said, “As a charity focussed on positive men’s health, we at Cahonas Scotland fully support International Men’s Day, and particularly this year’s theme of positive role models for men. We would like to thank the many celebrities who have taken the time to engage with us, learn more about what we do and support our year end fundraiser, the Loosen Up Auction 2012.”
“With their support and generosity we will make a real difference to the profile of men’s health issues in 2013.”
The trailer and poster for World War Z starring Brad Pitt is out! The movie is set to open on June 23, 2013.
Plot: A U.N. employee is racing against time and fate, as he travels the world trying to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic.
Directed by Marc Forster, the movie also stars Mireille Enos , Daniella Kertesz , James Badge Dale and Matthew Fox.
The trailer looks awesome:
The actor-humanitarian’s donation will benefit the organization’s marriage equality efforts.
Brad Pitt has donated $100,000 to the Human Rights Campaign’s National Marriage Fund, the organization announced Wednesday.
“It’s unbelievable to me that people’s lives and relationships are literally being voted on in a matter of days. In Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington, voters will go to the polls to decide if gay and lesbian couples – our friends and neighbors – are worthy of the same protections as everyone else. But that’s the system we have and I’m not going to back down from the fight for loving and committed couples to have the ability to marry,” Pitt said in a statement on the group’s website.
Pitt will match donations up to $100,000 as the HRC — ramps up its marriage equality Election Day operations. The actor has publicly supported the cause in the past with his 2008 donation of $100,000 to campaigns to strike down California’s Proposition 8, which banned gay marriage and is now waiting to be reviewed by the Supreme Court.
HRC president Chad Griffin is a board member of Pitt’s New Orleans-based Make It Right Foundation, which he founded after Hurricane Katrina to rebuild homes in the city’s Lower Ninth Ward.
Hey everyone, I’ve uploaded the Posters for Killing Them Softly in the gallery. The synopsis is:
Three dumb guys who think they’re smart rob a Mob protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse. Brad Pitt plays the enforcer hired to track them down and restore order. Killing Them Softly also features Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and Vincent Curatola. Max Casella, Trevor Long, Slaine and Sam Shepard also make appearances.
The movie opens November 30 in the US. For international release dates, check IMDb.com
Previews:
