I saw a movie that has hung around my consciousness longer than most. It’s called “Killing them Softly” and stars Brad Pitt. As he gets older Pretty Boy Pitt is taking on some gravitas. He has screen presence and commands the viewer’s attention. But the larger issue to me was the plot.
I’ve read two reviews of the movie, and neither liked it. Roger Ebert treated it as just another mob movie with a recycled plot, but made me laugh when he mentioned how odd it was that in the movie so may bars had CSPAN running in the background. That’s hilarious when you think about it. Filmspotters, a podcast I listen to, complained about the heavy-handedness of the inserted Obama/McCain dialogue in the plot and generally panned it.
I liked it, of course, even as I saw everything coming. I knew the young punks would get hammered. I was sure throughout that I was watching Casey Affleck putting up another excellent performance. That character turned out to be played by Scoot McNairy (not a typo), and I’ve never heard of him either, but he was good.
But to the larger plot, it revolves around some young punks who rob some mobsters, and then get their due. Things sink in with me only slowly, and tonight we were having a discussion about various things, and I mentioned Bernie Madoff – not that he stole money and is in jail, but rather that he is only in jail because he stole money from powerful people. And suddenly the movie made sense. Of course it made sense! It was about how people get away with crimes but only get punished if they choose the wrong victims. Which was why it was set in 2008 when all of those bankers involved in all of those crimes got away with it, and only Bernie Madoff went to jail.
I like Ebert – he’s really got some smarts going on and generally understands movies that I see on a far deeper level. I see a movie and then read his review and slap my forehead. But this one time only, I think I saw more of a movie than him. Possibly.
Piece of Mindful 