Markie Trattman (played by Ray Liotta) sets up an inside job to rob his own illegal poker game that he runs for the mob. This causes a lack of confidence in the safety of the game so the mob bosses call in a tough guy Dillion (played by Sam Shepard) to question him. Trattman takes a brutal beating but does not confess to setting up the robbery. After things calm down he eventually admits he was involved in the robbery but he suffers no consequences. The backdrop of this time is the recession in US during 2008 and the time when President Obama gets elected.
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This history gives the idea to another criminal, Johnny Amato (played by Vincent Curatola) also known as "squirrel" to rob the next poker game, knowing full well that Markie will be blamed for the second heist since everyone knows he got away with the first one. Squirrel enlists two other guys to help him rob the game which they do. The mob bosses bring in another hit man Jackie (played by Brad Pitt) to take out those responsible to restore confidence in the illegal poker game. Jackie knows that Markie is innocent of the second robbery, but decides he should be taken out anyway because everyone thinks he is responsible. Jackie kills Markie in a drive-by shooting, then he proceeds to hunt down and kill those who are actually responsible for the robbery of the poker game, which turn out to be Russell (played by Ben Mendelsohn), Frankie (played by Scoot McNairy), and Squirrel.
Jackie meets with the mob boss Driver (played by Richard Jenkins) to collect his fee, but Driver does not want to pay the full price. Jackie tells him this is not a community, this is America and America is a business, so pay up.
Best part of story, including ending:
No one seems to have any feelings in this movie. Everything is about money and killing is just a normal part of the business. This is very disturbing.
Best scene in story:
When Markie Trattman (played by Ray Liotta) is beaten up. The violence is extreme and uncomfortable to watch.
Opinion about the main character:
Brad Pitt as Jackie is a cold-blooded killer. His one kind attribute is that he likes to kill his targets softly without warning, giving them no time to go into fear of dying.
