Triple 9 (2016)
Directed by John Hillcoat
A gang of criminals and corrupt cops plan the murder of a police officer in order to pull off their biggest heist yet across town.
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8 films that influenced Triple 9
What critics say influenced Triple 9
He’s a gifted director, clearly inspired by the work of Martin Scorsese (especially Goodfellas ) and Michael Mann (especially Heat ), but assured enough to mount multiple sequences that take big cinematic risks and work like gangbusters because of them.
And while director John Hillcoat loves big, loud, urban violence full of high-caliber assaults and tough sweaty guys — there's one robbery here that may remind you of Michael Mann's classic "Heat" — he doesn't know how to rein in his actors.
Very “Heat”-like.
More like the one in Heat or the opening scene of The Dark Knight—swift, methodical, and necessarily brutal.
This was an opportunity for Hillcoat to make his Heat, and get on the radar of casual film fans.
Beyond the titular hook, there’s little here that you wouldn’t get from putting “Heat,” “The Departed” and half-a-dozen episodes of “The Shield” in a blender.
Like “Training Day” before it, “Triple 9” is eminently watchable, with tension throughout, and violence and treachery omnipresent.
Indeed, were it not for the film being set in Atlanta rather than Los Angeles (something which screams "tax breaks!" rather than a storytelling choice, unfortunately), you could squint and think the movie from the same guy who brought us “Training Day,” “Street Kings” and “End Of Watch.”
David: The last really good movie I saw about rogue cops was "Training Day" (2001) with Denzel Washington.
Opening with a messy heist reminiscent of Heat (1995), then crossing into the morally murky jurisdiction of Training Day (2001), this Atlanta-set thriller comes from the helm of John Hillcoat, a director with a long rap sheet of films dealing in the criminal mindset (Ghosts… of the Civil Dead, 1988; The Proposition, 2005; Lawless, 2012).
A former Black List entry written by Matt Cook, the script is not shy about its influences, recalling half a dozen cop dramas from the past few decades, most prominently Heat and Training Day .
Within “Triple 9,” there’s a subplot reminiscent of “Training Day,” as Marcus takes on a new partner, Chris (Casey Affleck), teaching him that the rules of the streets are far from police protocol.
As with 1995’s Heat, an obvious reference point, it’s not short on acting talent: Hillcoat can afford to bump off The Walking Dead ’s Norman Reedus – the kind of greasy presence who might have flourished in a Body Count – early on, and later recruit Michael K. Williams (Omar from The Wire ) for a one-scene bit as a crossdressing good-time gal.
As with last year’s monumental Sicario, it takes a foreign filmmaker—in this case, noted weirdo and frequent Nick Cave collaborator John Hillcoat (Ghosts… of the Civil Dead, The Road)—to really present an unblinking picture of American rot.
A tunnel chase scene recalls the morally ambiguous climax to Sicario, with Atticus Ross’ score for Triple 9 failing to create the same sense of atmospheric dread that the score for Denis Villenueve’s thriller managed.
Certainly that's not so easy, either, among the very busy backdrop that not only offers up Homeland Security and highly skilled ex-military types, but also heavily tattooed Latino gang members pulling "Sicario"-like stunts that might keep some heads spinning and others perhaps disengaged (in one very memorable set piece).
Like Denis Villeneuve on last year's compelling Sicario , Hillcoat places geographic meaning and heavy tension onto familiar run and gun scenarios from the opening bank heist onwards.
Triple 9 is part of a new wave of hard-hitting US action films like Sicario , which try to leaven the gunfire and violence with human drama.
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Think what Jessica Chastain was able to do in " A Most Violent Year " and that's where Winslet should have gone, but she's disappointingly straight-laced.
Despite superficial similarities to The Town and Heat, this never hits the heights of either.
But it certainly has its moments, even if some of them are borrowed from better works, including Ben Affleck’s “The Town’’ and HBO’s “The Wire.’’
It’s not just the younger Affleck brings to mind the older Affleck’s Boston crime pictures, especially The Town.
By then, we've been introduced to all the major heisters, including the always watchable Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave"), Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad"), Clifton Collins Jr. ("Transcendence"), Norman Reedus ("The Walking Dead") and Anthony "Avenger Falcon" Mackie, arguably chewing up his meatiest role since "The Hurt Locker."
Like “Training Day” and “End of Watch,” after you enjoy the man stuff, you shudder to think how many of these types of brutal stories play out in real life, not too far from where you live.
Indeed, were it not for the film being set in Atlanta rather than Los Angeles (something which screams "tax breaks!" rather than a storytelling choice, unfortunately), you could squint and think the movie from the same guy who brought us “Training Day,” “Street Kings” and “End Of Watch.”
There isn't a single turn the film takes that you haven't seen before in any film directed by David Ayer (" End of Watch ", " Sabotage ").
By the midway point, it seemed poised to join the modern cop/criminal classics like Heat , Narc and End of Watch , but by its conclusion it bungles the caper.