Markie Trattman (Ray Liotta) robbed his own gambling den some years ago and eventually owned up: because he is a good guy, he was forgiven. Johnny Amato has the bright idea of robbing it again - people will assume Markie is playing the same trick again and blame him - and engages losers Frankie (Scoot McNairy) and Russell (Ben Mendelsohn) to carry out the robbery. The local crime hierarchy, who operate by slow-moving committee, are fronted by the unnamed character played by Richard Jenkins who engages enforcer Jackie (Brad Pitt) to investigate and take remedial action (as long as it remains within budget). Jackie, in turn, brings in hit-man Mickey (James Gandolfini) to whack Johnny, because he knows Jackie.
This film had a terrific cast, but it really wasn't very good. The slim story isn't really enough to fill the relatively sparse running time, and there are far too many hugely talky sections which seem to be there just to give the actors a chance to act. In particular, James Gandolfini's character is absolutely unnecessary and occupies two lengthy dialogue sessions. Gandolfini is very good, the character is deeply unpleasant, and that part of the film leads nowhere.
But there are also other areas where far too much time is taken to achieve not very much - the dialogue between Frankie and Russell where Russell is descending slowly - very slowly - into a narcotic haze, for instance.
I would not have minded so much if there had been some pace, some excitement, or even something attractive to look at. But this is a slow, tedious, drab film with no sympathetic characters and an over-exaggerated idea of its own significance. The political commentary might have meant something if you are American: I'm not, so it just wasted more time. And I would have quite liked an ending. Never mind, maybe next time.
This film had a terrific cast, but it really wasn't very good. The slim story isn't really enough to fill the relatively sparse running time, and there are far too many hugely talky sections which seem to be there just to give the actors a chance to act. In particular, James Gandolfini's character is absolutely unnecessary and occupies two lengthy dialogue sessions. Gandolfini is very good, the character is deeply unpleasant, and that part of the film leads nowhere.
But there are also other areas where far too much time is taken to achieve not very much - the dialogue between Frankie and Russell where Russell is descending slowly - very slowly - into a narcotic haze, for instance.
I would not have minded so much if there had been some pace, some excitement, or even something attractive to look at. But this is a slow, tedious, drab film with no sympathetic characters and an over-exaggerated idea of its own significance. The political commentary might have meant something if you are American: I'm not, so it just wasted more time. And I would have quite liked an ending. Never mind, maybe next time.