The story tracks Jackie Cogan’s career in a gangland version of law and order. For Cogan (Pitt) is an enforcer; and when the Mob’s rules get broken, he gets hired to ply his trade – murder. Cogan is called in when a high-stake card game under the protection of the Mob is heisted. Expertly, with a ruthless businessman’s efficiency, a shrewd sense of other people’s weaknesses, and a style as cold as his stare, Cogan moves with reliable precision to restore the status quo as ill-conceived capers and double-dealing shenanigans erupt into high-voltage violence. Ray Liotta (looking like an older Henry Hill) plays the mobster who runs the poker game. Richard Jenkins plays a lawyer and James Gandolfini  plays a washed-up, alcoholic, hard-up-for-cash hit man who was brought on by Jackie to do the first job he's done in a long time but proves to be more of a liability.

Film production began in early March 2011 in New Orleans and wrapped in May. Dede Gardner and Brad Pitt himself produced the picture through Plan B Entertainment, in partnership with Steve and Paula Mae Schwartz of Chokstone Pictures. This is the second time that director Andrew Dominik, Brad Pitt and Sam have teamed up together.

Coventry Telegraph:
"'Killing Them Softly' is punctuated with brilliantly orchestrated and stylish explosions of violence, including a breathtaking slow-motion car crash. Unlike other film-makers who are in a hurry to get to the action set-pieces, Dominik allows conversations to breathe: veiled threats hang in the air, murderous glances are held uncomfortably long and every scene crackles with tension. And we teeter nervously on the edge of our seats for the entire 97 minutes." 

Richard Corliss, Time Magazine:
"What 'Killing Them Softly' thinks about — and shows with both relish and ketchup — is the impact and etiquette of criminal brutality."

Todd McCarthy, The Hollywood Reporter:
"The film is terribly smart in every respect, with ne’er-a-false note performances and superb craft work from top to bottom."

Robbie Collin, The Telegraph:
"Dominik’s outstanding 'Killing Them Softly' has the rigor and poise of the great American crime pictures of the 1970s."

Dave Calhoun, Time Out:
"'Killing Them Softly' is a cracking piece of storytelling, with a restrained balance of laidback chat and canny visual outbursts, and a delicious thread of gallows humour running through it."

Mark Adams, Screen Daily:
"A deliciously stylish hard-boiled crime drama, Andrew Dominik’s violent and bleakly funny film is a grimly nihilistic film that revels in its harsh and brutal urban landscape. Writer/director Andrew Dominik makes great use of the widescreen format and fills his film with visual quirks to sit alongside the smartly written dialogue, and working again with Brad Pitt has come up with a remarkably pertinent crime film that reflects the tough times facing America."

NY Daily News:
"Pitt, entering his third decade of fame, continues to show how there was always a deadly serious actor in him all along. Worn out but with an underlying humanity and work ethic — the title refers to how he does his hits — Pitt makes Jackie a scruffily generous soul. Beside him, Gandolfini nicely plays up the sad-sack shlumping of a big man laid low. And while McNairy and Mendelsohn are solid but almost too showy, Liotta, Jenkins, Sam Shepard and a chewy supporting cast beautifully fill in the blanks. 'Killing Them Softly' adds each of its characters to a punchy, prosaic tale that believes in America, one way or another."