Killing Them Softly, based on the George V Higgins crime novel ‘Cogan’s Trade’, is a fable-like ensemble crime drama starring Brad Pitt (Brad Pitt), Ben Mendelsohn (Animal Kingdom), Ray Liotta (Goodfellas), Richard Jenkins (The Visitor), and James Gandolfini (The Sopranos).
Written and directed by the AFI winning Australian filmmaker Andrew Dominik (Chopper, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford), the efficient, subtext-laden crime drama set amidst the social flux of the 2008 Presidential elections and ensuing mortgage crisis sees professional Mob fixer Jackie Cogan (Pitt) investigate a sloppy New Orleans poker heist pulled by low levels criminals Frankie (McNairy) and Russell (Mendelsohn).
We caught up with Mendelsohn (who we now predict will play Gary Oldman’s stepbrother at some point in his career) to discuss the differences between Sundance and Cannes, playing opposite a Goodfella and a Soprano, why he never watches his own films (including The Dark Knight Rises) and that time he danced with Ryan Gosling.
Killing Them Softly opens October 11th.
