Jackie Cogan is a cool, calm, and collected hired enforcer who is tasked with cleaning up the mess left behind after three petty thieves, Frankie, Russell, and Johnny, rob a high-stakes, Mob-protected poker game. The thieves' actions cause a ripple effect throughout the entire criminal underworld as the economy is thrown into disarray.
As Jackie begins his investigation, he meets with the mobsters who run the poker game – Driver, Squirrel, and Markie – to get to the bottom of what happened. Markie, who has a reputation for fixing his own games, confesses to being the mastermind behind the robbery, but Jackie suspects there's more to the story.
With the help of a fellow enforcer, Mickey, Jackie sets out to track down the thieves and bring them to justice. Along the way, he encounters an assortment of seedy characters, including a heroin-addicted hitman, a manager of a failing massage parlor, and a degenerate gambler.
As Jackie's investigation unfolds, he realizes that the robbery was merely a symptom of a larger problem – greed and corruption within the criminal hierarchy. He decides that the only way to restore order is to eliminate all those involved, including Markie, whom he believes is still a liability.
In the end, Jackie carries out his plan with precision and discretion, using his unique brand of calculated violence to send a loud and clear message to all those who dare to cross the Mob. Killing Them Softly is a gritty and brutal crime drama that offers a sobering glimpse into the dark and dangerous world of organized crime.