On paper, Triple 9 should come out near Oscar season. The multi-colored cast is stacked, led by Chiwetel Ejiofor and a game Woody Harrelson. The promos feature eerie locales and colors. And heist films are usually at least somewhat thrilling. Which is why it is disappointing to write that Triple 9 does too much telegraphing and stereotyping to be enjoyed by a mass audience.
Michael Atwood (Ejiofor) is a former military man now used for tactics for a Russian Jewish crime syndicate, run by his sister-in-law Irina (Kate Winslet). Atwood enlists buddy Russell (Norman Reedus) as well as cops Marcus (Anthony Mackie) and Franco (Clifton Collins Jr.) to execute some great robberies. After Irina pressures Mike to do one last job, he has to find a way to keep the police from responding. The best plan is to murder a police officer, a 999 in cop speak. Marcus recommends new partner Chris (Casey Affleck), who just transferred himself from the military.
Triple 9 executes some mostly tense action sequences. The opening “poster” heist is pretty great, and there is a fantastic raid on a gang’s lair in the middle. Director John Hillcoat employs deep darkness, half well used, half too dark. Triple 9’s script also lets the audience in, forcing them to watch the impending slow motion train wreck. This choice also leads to frustrating results: for every scene of a bad character creepily stalking an unknown good one we have a scene where a betrayal is inevitable because of what we know. Triple 9 needs a less schizophrenic editing and screenplay to be a high level thriller.
Also holding this movie back is its reprehensible racial and gender generalizations. Blacks are all murky mercenaries with little to no conscience. Hispanics run the gangs and become dirty cops. Jews operate cold crime syndicates. Women are soulless eye candy. And the whites are the innocents coming in and saving the day. This movie might have had traction in an earlier time, but now it feels like lazy nails across a chalkboard.
Triple 9’s brightspot is the actors, many of whom feel like they were signing up for something better. Chiwetel Ejiofor is well cast as the badass with weaknesses. Ejiofor has needed top billing for a while, and he puts it to good use, making Mike more textured than he is written. Woody Harrelson does his thing, playing a wise-cracking savvy vet detective with a minor drug problem. Clifton Collins Jr. is chillingly stoic as detective Franco and Anthony Mackie has a mini-Shakespearean arc until the script undermines him. Aaron Paul Jesse Pinkman’s his way through the movie well enough to leave a decent impression, and Casey Affleck and Norman Reedus are fine without much to do. Kate Winslet, Theresa Palmer, and Gal Gadot should fire their agents, especially Winslet, who is sporting a phony accent with hooker eyeliner.
Triple 9 is a wasted opportunity. A cast this good needed a semi-decent script and unobtrusive direction to work. Too bad neither is particularly great. Triple 9 will be quickly forgotten, much like the cultural generalizations it is peddling.