From the director of “The Road” and “The Proposition”, “Triple 9” is another slice of dirt-beneath-the-nails focusing on society’s peripheral phantoms, good and bad, playing out like an extended “Grand Theft Auto” mission writ large.
The template is clearly Michael Mann’s “HEAT,” and the title refers to a police radio call that would be considered a spoiler should any clarification be provided as to what it means.
What you need to know is that a chain of events is triggered when a gang of crooks robs a downtown Atlanta bank.
Michael (Chiwetel Ejiofor) is the hardened leader, pressured into performing “one last heist” by Kate Winslet’s Russian tyrant. He has little choice because she’s using his son as leverage and ropes in ex-military buddy Russell (Norman Reedus – “The Walking Dead”), his younger brother Gabe (Aaron Paul), and two crooked cops (Anthony Mackie and genre favourite Clifton Collins Jr.)
A spanner in the works arrives in the form of Casey Affleck’s newly transferred cop, a by-the-book family man who’s good at his job, has an uncle that’s a respected sergeant on the force (Woody Harrelson), and ends up partnered with Mackie’s corrupt lawman-cum-bank robber.
Consciences, loyalty, and bulletproof vests are tested over the course of this sombre exercise in moody procedural drama.
The impressive cast hints at something potentially great from “Triple 9,” so perhaps the biggest surprise is just how familiar it all feels. There’s nothing new to be found in this concrete jungle, one that feels a stone’s throw from the patrol car of “End of Watch,” or come to think of it, any other David Ayer crime effort.
It’s directed with a gritty veneer, particularly when we’re shoved into dimly lit intimate settings with these car dwelling low-lives, but when required Hillcoat will switch up the style to deliver the action beats. The opening heist, which descends into bridge-top chaos, immediately gets your attention with its sense of panic, especially the visuals at play in the use of an errant flare.
Performances are a mixed bag. Ejifor playing against type as the scarred pro-criminal is an intriguing watch; Winslett chews the scenery in a fashion as garish as the boots she wears; and Affleck brings a more beefed up version of his “Gone Baby Gone” persona to this melting pot playground.
However, Reedus is completely wasted in a minimal role, Aaron Paul is asked to go Jessie Pinkman with a Gary Oldman “Fifth Element” haircut (hardly a stretch), and as charismatic as Mackie can be, he is given nothing on which to hang the moral conflicts of his character beyond staring in the mirror.
With so much going on inconsistencies are inevitable and ultimately forgivable. As long as you’re on board from the initial robbery with a mindset that this isn’t going to change the face of cinema, or advance the Hollywood feminist movement (Gal Gadot had better hope “Wonder Woman” erases all memory of her no-show here), and don’t spend too much time second guessing the telegraphed twists and turns, “Triple 9” is in the upper echelons of films of this ilk.
