On Jesse James Comparisons with Killing Them Softly

In 2007 Andrew Dominik released The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, a masterpiece of contemporary cinema. Jesse James was a measured, contemplative, beautiful film that was always going to be difficult to follow up. Five years on Dominik releases his third feature as writer, director, Killing Them Softly, which reunites him with Jesse James actor, Brad Pitt.

Killing Them Softly is a perfect choice as a follow up to Jesse James. It is a contemporary piece, much shorter and blackly comic, yet the principal characters of both films share similarities, making Dominik something of an auteur. Dominik and Pitt’s interpretation of the American civil war outlaw/hero Jesse James was as a man who felt betrayed by his country. A man who was increasingly isolated by a changing America and searched for and on occasion found his identity in violence. Specifically what he saw as retributory violence.  Pitt’s character in Killing Them Softly Jackie Coogan is a gangster, specifically a hit man, brought into clear up a difficult situation. As the entire film is an allegory for the depressed economic state of America, Coogan’s frustrations in carrying out his job can be read as frustrations with American economic policy. Like Jesse James, Coogan sees himself as the only sane man in a corrupt system, a man who sees his own isolation as those around him struggle to adapt and a man to whom violence is an answer and an identity.

The politics may not be subtly intertwined, but there is great humour created from comparing organised crime to struggling businesses in a depressed America. And Coogan is relatable because his actions come from a place of pragmatism, when the powers that be (in this instance George W. Bush) are making decisions with apparently no thought.

The performances are terrific and as expected, Dominik has created a beautiful aesthetic from the glum settings with a script that may not be subtle, but puts fantastic dialogue into his characters’ mouths. This may be a new genre, the anti-Capitalist gangster film.