In New Orleans as the world-wide financial crisis is beginning to bite and the 2008 Presidential election looms, Johnny Amato, VINCENT CURATOLA, a small-time crook, proposes that Frankie, SCOOT MCNAIRY, robs a card game run by Markie Trattman, RAY LIOTTA; Amato's reasoning is that Markie is known to have robbed his own game in the past, so will probably be blamed again by his bosses higher up in the mob. To Amato's annoyance, Frankie brings his drugged-out Aussie mate, Russell, BEN MENDELSOHN, into the scam. The big boss, Dillon, SAM SHEPARD, wants things sorted, and hit-man Jackie, BRAD PITT, becomes involved, in turn importing Mikey, JAMES GANDOLFINO, a gunman from out of town; but Mikey proves unreliable.

KILLING THEM SOFTLY is a wonderfully tasty crime thriller based on the book, "Cogan's Trade" by George V. Higgins, whose most famous crime novel, "The Friends of Eddie Coyle", was very memorably filmed with Robert Mitchum in 1973. Higgins' wonderfully colourful dialogue is retained in the screenplay written by Australian director Andrew Dominik, who made CHOPPER in Australia and THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD in America.

In Dominik's updating, these loquacious crooks and killers have been profoundly affected by economic hard times - Mikey has to fly economy, and Jackie complains to his immediate superior, Driver, RICHARD JENKINS, about the low rates of pay. All this is set against a backdrop of televised speeches by presidential candidate Barack Obama and the incumbent, George W. Bush, speeches full of empty promises and hollow rhetoric. Beautifully shot by Australian Greig Fraser, this is a different sort of crime thriller, and a particularly fine one.

There are no women characters - this is a man's world - but the male characters are wonderfully off-beat, especially Ben Mendelsohn's seriously hopeless Russell.

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