Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Gal Gadot and Aaron Paul. That is quite a list of famous actors all starring in a movie which doesn’t feature any superheroes and isn’t an epic either. Triple 9 is a crime movie and I had high expectations with all these actors in it. Does director John Hillcoat (who was also responsible for The Proposition, The Road and Lawless) deliver a film which stands out within the genre?
Initially I had the feeling I would be able to answer that question positively. During the opening we see how a group of men prepare themselves for a bank robbery and execute it with great precision. It’s been shot extremely well, including a memorable chase which doesn’t stop when you think something has gone wrong. The men all have a link to the police and the reason they execute their actions is because the son of one of them can only see him when he delivers information to the leader of a mob syndicate, Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet). She keeps using her position though and when they think they are ready she asks the impossible: get into a heavily secured building. The only way to do this is by sending the whole police force somewhere else and in order to do that a triple 9 is the only option, which is shooting a cop.
This all sounds very suspenseful and it partly is, but as a whole the film unfortunately doesn’t work. This is partly because some of the characters aren’t really working and add anything to the plot. Aaron Paul’s character is an example who has been written poorly. There are also a couple of moments which would be important in any other film are only shortly mentioned and aren’t used later (for example when one of the police officers still has some paint on his pants). Towards
the end of the movie it manages to surprise a bit, but there are a couple of big coincidences (like a detective knowing exactly where he needs to go). Calling Triple 9 a bad movie would be too much, but based on the cast it could have been more. So it isn’t a movie which stands out.
I was really looking fwd to this because of the cast but couldn’t make it to the screening. Based on my friend Ted’s review (and yours) though, sounds like it’s only good enough for a rental.