Starring: Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr, Aaron Paul, Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet
Distributor: Roadshow Films
Runtime: 115 mins. Reviewed in Mar 2016
| 
| 
In the opening scene of ‘Triple 9’, four crooks and two crooked cops carry out a bank heist at the behest of the Russian mafia. Led by Michael (Chiwetel Ejiofor in brooding form), they make it out with their targeted security box in a highly professional operation. However, when disgraced policeman turned thief Gabe (Aaron Paul) gets greedy, their escape is hampered by the detonation of a red dye pack among their spoils. Billowing clouds of red powder erupting from a van speeding through traffic makes for some arresting imagery, and their subsequent shootout warrants favourable comparisons to the urban warfare of ‘Heat’. Unsurprisingly, it earns its MA15+ rating with regular bursts of violence.
When Michael delivers the loot to mafia queen Irina (Kate Winslet, given frankly little to do), she asks him to carry out another, far more difficult job – stealing from a Homeland Security facility. She has him over a barrel – Michael has a young son with her sister, plus she has her men fatally wound one of his team, proving her dominance. Realising the hopelessness of their situation, they produce a confronting solution; to draw away the police presence in droves and leave them to their job, they must initiate a code 999, signifying an ‘officer down’. Bent cop Marcus (Anthony Mackie) nominates his rookie partner Chris (Casey Affleck) to be taken out, and the plan is eventually settled.
The entire film is aggressively masculine and unforgiving, filled with hostility and macho chest-beating. The few women in the cast are aware that they exist in a man’s world, and their characters play such that they would be interchangeable with men (disregarding of course their capacity for childbirth). Casey Affleck is decent in the lead as a pawn in a larger game, convinced of his own autonomy and ability to make positive changes. Clifton Collins Jr impresses as the other crooked policeman, hiding in plain sight within the police investigation into the opening robbery. He has a slippery quality to him, allowing him to interact easily with the parties in his conflicting duties.
As the countdown to the 999 looms, Marcus begins to develop a respect for Chris, complicating his scheduled betrayal. In a nerve-wracking house raid on a Mexican cartel-related murderer (shot with claustrophobic intensity by DP Nicolas Karakatsanis), Chris saves Marcus’ life, rendering his engrossing and fascinating moral conundrum more difficult. The audience is placed in a curious position – on one hand we want Michael to succeed and escape from Irina’s grasp, but on the other hand, we also don’t want Chris to be killed. Screenwriter Matt Cook constructs an elegant solution to this puzzle, however the overwhelmingly dour finale leaves one with a sour taste in the mouth. It may be a ‘realistic’ portrayal of the lack of honour amongst thieves (or just another film striving to be labelled ‘gritty’), but to intentionally snuff out any rays of hope in an already unrelentingly dour film feels manipulative.
Ultimately, the film never quite gels to equal the sum of its impressive parts – a strong director in John Hillcoat, a powerhouse cast and a terrific narrative. So, while it can be notched up as a slight disappointment, it still comes recommended for mature crime genre fans in need of a fix.
12 Random Films…
