Triple 9 review: A film which is equal parts The Town, The Departed, and Sicario.
Triple 9 review
It’s been a while since I sat down in a cinema and been entertained and gripped for every single second. Triple 9 is one such film, as it is the film equivalent of getting your coat trapped in a car door and being dragged along for two hours. Director John Hilcoat has had a varied and interesting career so far, with the fantastic western The Proposition, the disappointingly dull post-apocalyptic The Road, and the violent and entertaining gangster feature Lawless. Now he enters the present day for a film which is equal parts The Town, The Departed, and Sicario.
An all-star cast assembles for the best heist film since Michael Mann’s seminal Heat. Chiwetel Ejiofor is a thief with his own team of criminals and corrupt cops (Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul, Anthony Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr.). Their missions are handed to them by wife of an incarcerated Russian mob boss, Irina Vlaslov (Kate Winslet). Irina has leverage over the team due to her being the auntie to Ejiofor’s son, and can dictate visitation rights as well as threatening the whole team. When they are given a seemingly impossible job, it is decided to enact a 999, the killing of a police officer, as a decoy to the heist. One of the corrupt cops, Marcus’ (Mackie) new partner Chris (Casey Affleck) is chosen as the potential victim.
Triple 9 review
Despite the complexity of the plot and the absolute wealth of characters, the film avoids convolution by simplifying things as much as possible. This will come as a negative to some, as the film has no clear protagonist. The focus switches between who is important to the story at the time, which is refreshing and makes a lot of sense. Once Chris is chosen as a target the main story is about Marcus’ morality and the bond he and Chris forms. It gives the film a sense of constant movement and excitement as well as avoiding predictability. Every character is walking along a knife’s edge and you can feel the sharpness of the blade every step of the way.
The cast are not only well selected, with a good mixture of heavy hitters, reliable TV stars, and up and comers, but are also given lots to do. Just about every character is given something to do and an emotional drive with the exception of Gal Gadot’s wasted role as Ejiofor’s ex. Woody Harrerlson brings the humour as a lead detective with cynical arrogance, Winslet makes a surprisingly strong gangster and does manage to be scary (something her Divergent villain was lacking) while Mackie, Ejiofor, Paul, and Affleck are as strong as their recent back catalogue suggests.
Triple 9 review
It’s a film without heroes and an excess of villains, but the script by newcomer Matt Cook is a mature and understandable effort that gets you to understand the plight of every character and how they rationalise things. He team willing to kill a cop as a distraction is certainly villainous, but as they have no interaction we see how they justify such a predicament. As an audience member we’re elevated to a height overseeing all these relationships and how twisted they become, but are never manipulated into forming judgements.
Triple 9 review by Luke Ryan Baldock, February 2016
Triple 9 is released in UK cinemas from 19th February
