20 replies to this topic

[Peter T Chattaway]

Brad Pitt Back With 'Jesse James' Director Andrew Dominik For 'Cogan's Trade'
EXCLUSIVE: Brad Pitt is negotiating to star in and produce Cogan's Trade, a comedic crime saga that re-teams Pitt with Andrew Dominik, who directed Pitt in the gunslinger role in the 2007 Western The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford. This time, Pitt will play Jackie Cogan, a professional enforcer who investigates a heist that takes place during a high stakes poker game held under the protection of the mob. The picture is an ensemble and Pitt's Jesse James co-star Casey Affleck has been also rumored as a possible participant. . . .
Mike Fleming, Deadline.com, November 2

Edited by Peter T Chattaway, 19 May 2012 - 09:48 AM.

[Ryan H.]

Loved ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES, so I'm interested. I wouldn't have thought that a "comedic crime saga" would have been Dominik's follow-up to that elegant, arty Western, but variety is always welcome.

[D. Adam]

Isn't Dominik currently working on a Marilyn Monroe biopic? That's what IMDB says, anyway. IMO, that's a bit stranger as a follow-up.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Sam Rockwell joins.

Also possibly joining Pitt, Casey Affleck and Rockwell are Bill Murray, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem and Zoe Saldana.

Um ... this might be good.

[J.A.A. Purves]

Tony Soprano and Coen Brothers' favorite, Richard Jenkins, are now also both in.

[Overstreet]

Good heavens. I hope they're all signing on because they've seen a great script. Because that's a fantastic cast.

[J.A.A. Purves]

The title to this film has now changed to "Killing Them Softly."

[Nick Olson]

Wow. Well, I was already fairly excited for Pitt and Dominik being reunited for Killing Them Softly (I loved Jesse James), but Indiewire has ratcheted up my excitement. They call it an "anti-thriller for our times," "breathtakingly brilliant," and "admirably ambitious":

Quote

"Killing Them Softly" captures in no uncertain terms the frustration and failed promises the American public as a whole have dealt with as well as the lack of accountability and inability to take difficult but needed action to right the ship. Is this the first economic/political gangster movie ever made? All we know is that we want to see it again to keep digging into this dense and penetrating film. Easily a contender for one of the best movies of the year, "Killing Them Softly" pulses and burns in a way few films ever do.

[M. Leary]

Why do real life crooks never have hair as awesome as movie crooks?

[Tyler]

So, it's named for the Roberta Flack song?

[J.A.A. Purves]

[Tyler]

AV Club: F from CinemaScore

[Christian]

It's nowhere near an "F," but it didn't sit well. I wrote a negative review, but I admit to finding some parts of this film very entertaining.

[Tyler]

Christian, on 03 December 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

It's nowhere near an "F," but it didn't sit well. I wrote a negative review, but I admit to finding some parts of this film very entertaining.

For the sake of comparison, Alex Cross has an A, so CinemaScore isn't the most reliable metric.

[Thom Wade]

I saw Twitter accounts of mass walkouts on this one.

[Christian]

Mass walkouts?? It did strike me as odd -- maybe unwise -- to build the film around a character who doesn't appear for a while (maybe 30 minutes -- I can't remember). So you're watching a movie about three guys played by actors you've probably never seen, while you wait for Brad Pitt to show up. Those three guys are kind of funny -- at least one of them is -- so I didn't mind too much. Nor did I think the lack of Pitt on screen would generate walkouts. Maybe they all walked out after Pitt's character appears because they detested him.

[Christian]

#7 on Owen Gleiberman's Top 10 of 2012.

[SDG]

Tyler, on 03 December 2012 - 01:06 PM, said:

Christian, on 03 December 2012 - 12:27 PM, said:

It's nowhere near an "F," but it didn't sit well. I wrote a negative review, but I admit to finding some parts of this film very entertaining.

For the sake of comparison, Alex Cross has an A, so CinemaScore isn't the most reliable metric.

CinemaScore probably has value as a predictor of one thing and one thing only: box office legs.

Christian, on 05 December 2012 - 09:37 AM, said:

#7 on Owen Gleiberman's Top 10 of 2012.

Goodness. What's the rush?

[M. Leary]

Surprised not to see any comments here. I am still mulling this one over, but am leaning slightly toward "like." It banks on a lot of editing effects and the Bush/Obama transition subtext leads to a stultifyingly dumb concluding line from Pitt's character. But I would be happy with Dominik/Pitt adapting any Elmore Leonard novel. This film has atmosphere in spades and makes good use of a few actors I haven't seen before. I don't understand the AV Club "f" at all.

[Joel Mayward]

M. Leary, on 20 January 2013 - 09:51 PM, said:

I don't understand the AV Club "f" at all.

I wouldn't give it an "F," but no more than a "C-." Perhaps I went in expecting too much, as I loved the direction Dominik took with "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford." It's a stylish film, but it's ultimately a cadre of unlikeable characters who end up going nowhere and doing nothing. Well, not nothing. James Gandolfini drinks a lot, and Richard Jenkins talks a lot, and Brad Pitt listens/looks bewildered a lot. I did appreciate the tension that was built in both the holdup scene and the bar conversation between Brad Pitt and Scoot McNairy's characters. I had heard that Pitt's closing monologue was--and I quote a friend--"genius." But...well...it wasn't.

Still, another Dominik/Pitt combination will probably have me back in the theatre.