Cast: Brad Pitt, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta
Diector: Andrew Dominik
Rating: 4
Based on the crime novel Cogans Trade, Writer- Director Andrew Dominik has done an intense, regimented job of enticing the plot (set in a rain-drenched post- Katrina) out of the shadows while retaining the flavor of contemptible lingo and attitude.
With the background dominated by then presidential candidate Barack Obama’s optimistic speeches stressing the availability of "the American promise, hope and change" to all. Old-timer Amato (Vincent Curatola) hires grimy kids Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) to raid a regular poker night run by Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta), who once robbed his own game and got away with it.
While the grimy young hoods duo emerge in all their miserable glory, they pull off the job, but this is bad news for Markie, as it’s going to be assumed he’s run the same scam a second time. Almost immediately Markie(Ray) gets horribly beat up, Cogan brings in another hired killer, Mickey (James Gandolfini) to help him with a double-killing, and plenty more blood gets spilled.
The unknown corporate mob connects with Richard Jenkins to hire Jackie Corgan (Pitt) to deal with the disruption of the abortive poker business. Eventually, Jackie aided by outstanding dialogue slickly executed his targets one by one and left no stones unturned. Brad Pitt is terrific and super-stylish that takes pleasure in its brutal mob storyline, inner-city locations and oddball characters; He is always in control and as interested in his payments as he is in the killings.
There are no women characters to speak of. This is very much an old schooled crime film concerning money and murder, with the mob world reflecting the state of the US in 2008.
Dominik also adds his own flourishes right from the start, from striking creative camera moves to comically supplying one of the young hoods a little dog. The film is packed with memorable movie moments- the slo-mo sequence of Jackie and his luminous pistol in the rain as he stages a hit, and McNairy and Mendelsohn wandering in and out of a drug mist among others.
The film is terribly smart in every aspect with a sublime performances and excellent work from top to bottom. The final dialogue "America is not a country- its business" immensely clarify the filthy business of crime and its political environment.