I think most of the criticism toward Triple 9 is misguided at best. I feel that most of the critics whose reviews I’ve read (and I’ve read dozens over the last week) weren’t expecting what Triple 9 delivers, they thought they were paying to see the next Heat or something, and upon being vastly disappointed, tore the film to shreds as they saw fit. I think a few critics jumped on the hateful bandwagon, and now moviegoers who were excited up until the reviews rolled out are unsure if they want to cough up their hard earned dough for the film or not. Some will have you believe the film is worth waiting for the Blu-Ray of. The joys of the internet age of film criticism and audience reception. This way of thinking is backwards. You have to see this film for yourself decide if it’s your cup of tea or not. Don’t even take my enthusiastically positive word for it. See it for yourself, and go from there.
When you see the trailers for Triple 9, it’s pretty easy to say it looks like a cross between Heat and Brooklyn’s Finest, or Street Kings or End Of Watch. It’s even easier to walk into the theatre expecting something akin to that. The surprise if Triple 9 is, that while there are minor similarities between the films I mentioned above, Triple 9 is its own unique film, a different monster entirely. I’ve never seen a crime film quite like it before and I doubt I will anytime soon given the lack of gritty crime films in theatres these days in preference of sanitized comic book and video game based movies.
Triple 9 follows an ensemble of edgy characters strewn throughout Atlanta, Georgia, each one undergoing immense amounts of pressure, stress, and paranoia, and seemingly trying to keep their heads above the water. There’s Mike Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor), the hot headed leader of a 5-man group of thieves, and a former Navy Seal. His ex-wife Elena’s sister Irina,the wife of an imprisoned Russian mafia boss, is using his son as leverage over Mike so he’ll commit elaborate robberies. His team is comprised of Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.) and Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie); two corrupt Atlanta cops, and then there’s Russell Welch (Norman Reedus); a former Navy Seal and old war buddy to Mike, and Gabe Welch (Aaron Paul); Russell’s younger brother and a former Atlanta police officer who worked in the same precinct as Marcus and was a junkie until 6 months prior. The film opens with one such robbery, which goes horribly wrong when a hidden dye pack from the bank they just knocked off fills their escape vehicle with an impenetrable red mist, causing a multi vehicle collision on a packed highway. Then there’s Jeff Allen (Woody Harrelson), the Atlanta detective heading up the investigation into the robbery. He’s also the temperamental uncle of Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), a greenhorn cop with a wife and kid who conveniently becomes Marcus’ new partner. Irina wants the group of thieves to commit another heist, to continue to collect sensitive information that can set her husband free, but the guys need a new plan to pull of their next daring job. Franco and Marcus suggest killing a cop, which would incite a 999 or officer down call that sends every police offer to their fallen comrade’s position. Marcus nominates Chris as cop to kill…and that’s where I’ll leave you hanging. To say much more beyond this would ruin all hope for surprise.
Earlier today I would have told you I have two issues with the film, the first of which is the plot, which I would then explain is a little too reliant on convenience and is in some ways vaguely predictable and inevitable. I would then mention a sequence that occurs with around a half hour left in the film in which two characters enter an abandoned warehouse and only one of them has murder on their mind, we can assume what will occur next. I would point out that while this scene does play out exactly as we expect it to for a while, it takes us in a different direction after a couple minutes that is almost completely unexpected.
I’m not complaining about the plot now as I type away at this review because I’ve changed my mind since this morning. Triple 9 isn’t reliant on its plot so much as it is reliant on the unpredictable the actions of the characters, reactions that actually seem like the natural ones most of us would have. If you were a cop, and you were informed that your nephew’s life could be hanging by a thread, would you drive like a maniac to the scene of the crime, or take your sweet time? If you found out someone wants to kill you, would play it and wait for precisely the right moment to strike, or would you freak out and blow their head off right there? How you may react isn’t necessarily how someone else might, and that’s the key to the tension in Triple 9. You genuinely don’t know who is going to what and when, keeping you constantly trying to anticipate every character’s next move and in complete suspense. I swear my knuckles turned white during the last half hour of the film, the suspense was that gripping and overwhelming.
A review on rogerebert.com tries desperately to suggest that Michael’s sad predicament is a half assed attempt at inciting sympathy toward the character. This is false. I do not think I am meant to sympathize with Michael for one single second, rather I am meant to understand quite simply why he’s doing what he’s doing. His predicament is motivation for the character and an elaborate way of generating the beginnings of a gripping crime story, not a piss poor attempt at making him a three dimensional character.
On that note, do not walk into this film thinking you’ll like more than two of these characters. You won’t. The acting is so good here, so down to Earth, naturalistic, and nuanced. These aren’t showy Oscar bait performances, they’re subtle and realistic portrayals of plausible human beings, and not simply cardboard cut out archetypes. Take Harrelson for example, playing another oddball but with the edge he brought to Rampart, creating a fleshed out, dynamic, tangible human being. Which brings me to my second issue, which is the noticeably phony accents utilized by Kate Winslet and Gal Gadot that greatly affect their performances. These women don’t sound authentically Russian, in that Cate Blanchett in Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull kind of way. I think if you changed Winslet’s character to someone of British ethnicity (and cast someone else from the UK in place of Gal Gadot, say Carey Mulligan), Winslet could have delivered a much icier, more vile performance. Sadly, due to the accent, she is so hindered she’s incapable of providing an enjoyable villainous performance. Thankfully, Gal Gadot has a fleeting presence in the film so one doesn’t have to endure yet another dreadful performance from her. One can only hope she has just as few minutes in Batman V. Superman.
John Hillcoat, whose previous films include The Proposition, The Road and Lawless, delivers yet another already sorely underrated motion picture, and directs the hell out of it. I recall a popular criticism of Lawless, that the film’s ending was too down and depressing for critics to grapple with, and that a happier ending would have made the film better for them. I’ve always found that to be a poor criticism. In today’s age of film criticism, over saturated and far too pretentiously picky, it doesn’t surprise me that so many critics would prefer a “Hollywood” ending for that film. I wonder how many of them realized that was the ending of the non-fiction book The Wettest County In The World, the source material for Lawless, based on facts and written by the grandson/grand nephew of the trio of brothers showcased in the film. Bear with me, there’s a point to this.
I don’t think too many of those same critics like the ending to Triple 9 either, which I won’t spoil. It’s partially the ending you expect, and partially an ending you don’t see coming. For this film it works and wonderfully. It suits the nature of the beast, the nature of this grimy, brutal crime saga. It’s not forced, inauthentic, or improbable. Watch Harrelson’s face at films end. He says everything his character is thinking with one action, and the look on his face and in his eyes. You not only understand him and what he’s thinking in that moment, you feel for him too. It’s damn near perfect.
Podcasting Them Softly 