Directing the Big Guns

Wellington-born director Andrew Dominik, 45, who has lived in Australia most of his life, said it took 45 minutes via text message to hammer out a deal with Brad Pitt to produce their latest collaboration Killing Them Softly. “Andrew’s become an old friend,” Pitt said. “I am a big believer in his work. And he pulled out this old crime novel, like he did for [The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford], and had this take on America, which I thought was interesting, especially with him being Australian and an outsider.” The film is about a group of thugs – played by Pitt, [Sopranos star] James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta – jockeying for position in a gritty and purposely ambiguous Anytown, U.S.A. Killing Them Softly is based on a1974 crime novel by George V. Higgins.