Triple 9

Year: 2016
Genre: Crime Drama
Directed: John Hillcoat
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Gal Gadot, Norman Reedus, Clifton Collins Jr., Michelle Ang
Production: Open Roads Films

There comes a point about halfway through watching Triple 9 where I wondered "who should I be rooting for here?" Director John Hillcoat and screenwriter Matt Cook do a marvelous job enveloping the audience into their dark and cynical world of warring gangs, corrupt cops, and hastily executed heists. They attempt to evoke a visual vocabulary similar to Heat (1995) yet the proceedings end up feeling more like Takers (2010) lacking the basic pacing and characters that leave any lasting impact.

Seriously, I can't figure out who I give two s**ts about

The term triple 9 is police code meaning Officer down/urgent help needed. This is the plot element that hangs precariously in the air for nearly one hour of screen time as a congress of corrupt cops (Ejiofor, Mackie, Paul, Reedus and Collins) plan a heist for the Russian mob. Blackmailed and desperate, the group finds an unwitting patsy in rookie cop Chris Allen (Affleck); nephew to notorious Detective Jeffrey Allen (Harrelson). Chris's death would result in the entire police department hunting down a cop killer leaving the crew to pull their heist in peace. What they didn't count on was Chris being so...smart? Crafty? Resourceful?

Casey: the other white Affleck

Truth is the character of Chris does very little except absorb the myriad of coincidences that culminate in his setup. He's not admirable nor interesting nor particularly adept at police work and despite having comparable screen time to the rest of the ensemble, we know very little about him; other than he's into Black Sabbath. The mortality of his character is dependent not on cloak and dagger intrigue or a sense of indemnity but on blind, stupid luck. Only near the end does Chris have an opportunity to act on anything of consequence yet that heroes moment is robbed by Woody Harrelson who has pieced together everything and wraps it in a neat little bow for Chris.

Well if the movie isn't interested in Chris then surely it's interested in the corrupt cops, right? Yeah, not so much; only Ejiofor is given more than a cursory glance and even then the movie seems to hinge his character's motivation on extensive moments of exposition. Those moments are provided by Ejiofor sharing over-the-shoulder shots with the incredibly underutilized Kate Winslet. While every other character enters and exits the film with little fanfare, her Russian mob wife character is a scarlet draped exclamation point to the otherwise stodgy ensemble.

All the story elements that merge into the climactic final heist are lovingly pieced together for the audience. We are privy to all the information early on and watch as the unavoidable fates of all involved unravel; no one being wiser as a result. But to what end, is the million dollar question. The film seems poised to give an uncompromising view of brutality complete with dirty cops, ski-masked robbers, habitual drug use, poverty, degradation and lots and lots of grime. But while these images bombard the viewer, there's no depth to it. The editing, the story beats, the ever obnoxious shaky-cam, all work against this film to make a dirty, steamy hodgepodge of who cares.

Triple 9 is a barely passable crime drama with a decent movie struggling to break free underneath bad pacing and bad character development. Boasting an ensemble cast of one Emmy winner, one Academy Award winner and three nominees, you'd think this movie would be much better than it is. Sadly, it's purely a time-waster worthy of a rental tops. On a side note, for a city located in post-9/11 U.S.A., you'd think Atlanta would be a little more serious about its car-bomb situation.

Yeah, but did you die?

Final Grade: F