Starpuls: After Killing Them Softly received a 10 minute standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival, it appears Oscar buzz is growing early for a man that has yet to hoist an Academy Award: Brad Pitt. Killing Them Softly, which also stars Ray Liotta, James Gandolfini and Richard Jenkins, follows a mob enforcer (Pitt) sent to clean-up a mob-protected poker game after a robbery. The film has received some flak for being set in 2008 and centering on the recent economic downturn, with some wondering if the story was taking shots at President Obama. "Only part of that is true. The movie sets Obama's 2008 Democratic National Convention speech against a landscape of greed and violence but this wasn't an attempt to criticize Obama, but rather the footage was used as a real expression of hope," Pitt said. The film is the second time Pitt has worked with Andrew Dominik, the first being The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Brad Pitt was nominated for his roles in Moneyball and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, but lost both times. With Killing Them Softly hitting theaters in September, he will surely be on the minds of Oscar voters. © 2012 Starpulse.com 'Source: Starpulse.com
