“Three dumb guys who think they’re smart rob a Mob-protected card game, causing the local criminal economy to collapse.” That tagline for Killing Them Softly pretty much says it all about this film. The script is mundane, the characters so sleazy they deserve everything that happens to them, and the dialogue so full of profanity it’s a tune-out through and through.

Probably the only reason the film received a green light relates to its all-star cast -- Brad Pitt, Richard Jenkins, James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Scoot McNairy, Ben Mendelsohn, and Sam Shepard. Based on a crime novel by George V. Higgins (Cogan’s Trade), the story is simple. Markie (Liotta) runs an elite game room where mobsters routinely congregate. One night he gets a brave idea to plan a robbery and steal all of their money. He’s so proud of himself that he later tells the guys he was the one who set it up.

Naturally, many individuals don’t think this is funny. When word about it gets around, Frankie (McNairy) and Russell (Mendelsohn) decide to repeat the robbery. They’re sure everyone will think it was Markie again. Johnny Amato (Vincent Curatola) joins the two thugs, and Markie is almost beaten to death when questioned by mobsters to reveal who took the money.

So what does Brad Pitt do in this film? He plays Jackie, an enforcer working through Driver (Jenkins), the mob go-between. Basically when the mob hits aren’t gruesome enough, Jackie steps in to kill them “lightly.” His lightly seems more relatable to that of a serial killer. Pitt does little for this film other than lend his name, and Jenkins appears terribly miscast here.

Two other things plagued me about the movie. Nearly every other word is profanity. I remember a teacher in college explaining that people who overuse profanity just don’t know any other words to express what they want to say. Yet as a police officer, I learned the louder, more aggressive and more profanity one used would get more results. Still, even if you say words like “it’s an orange” or a string of foul words over and over, listeners tune out. So what’s the point other than irritating viewers?

Besides also being very gruesome, the other infuriating inclusion in this film involves many, many clips of presidents delivering speeches about things wrong with the country and pointing fingers. Those thugs in the bars and game rooms where these played throughout the film weren’t paying attention to these speeches, so why should moviegoers have to listen to them?

Sitting through this gloomy movie was an unpleasant waste of time, although I did enjoy Liotta’s performance.

(Released by The Weinstein Company and rated “R” for violence, strong pervasive language, sexual references, and drug use.)

Review also posted at www.reviewexpress.com.