Triple 9, Review: 9 pins

If bodies count in a crime drama, the body count in Triple 9 is very high. In fact, hardly anybody is left alive in the end. So that makes it morbid. Decapitation and gore galore make it really blood-curdling. Cops and criminals mixing and mingling, while betraying and killing each other, make it confusing. High-profile robberies, blackmail, drug dealers, buddy-buddy cops, uncle-nephew, brother-brother, alcoholic cop, titillation (if the censors have let it pass), betrayal, smashed cars, blown-up buildings… welcome to Triple 9.

In Atlanta, Georgia, criminals Michael Atwood, Russell Welch and his brother Gabe, along with two corrupt cops; Marcus Belmont and Franco Rodriguez, rob a bank to retrieve a safe deposit box. The box contains information that could overturn the recent conviction of a Russian Mafia boss. When Michael brings the safe deposit box to the boss' wife, Irina, she with-holds their reward money, and blackmails Michael and his crew to undertake another mission, which involves breaking into a government office and stealing more data on her husband. To coerce them to take the job, the mafia kills Russell, traumatising Gabe. Michael also feels the pressure, as he has a son with Irina's sister, and not doing the mission could prevent him from seeing him ever again.

The group decides to go ahead with the job. As they think of ways they can pull it off, Marcus and Franco suggest a Triple 9, which involves an ‘officer down’ phone call that sends most of the police force on duty to the location of the incident, thereby allowing the gang to carry out their robbery at the real, distant location. Marcus is given a new partner, Chris Allen, who he tries to befriend as they go out on drug-related calls together. During one call, Chris attempts to question a local gang member, Luis Pinto, about a gang-related homicide, only for Luis to attack Chris, before being detained for his actions. Chris' maternal uncle, Jeffrey Allen, is a Sgt. Detective in the police force, working on the bank robbery case, and is trying to track down the members of the robbery crew. Jeffrey gets a lead and discovers that Gabe is one of the people involved in the bank robbery. Gabe, still grieving over his brother, tries to stop the heist from happening, by following Chris and Marcus around and telling Chris, but is stopped both by Michael and Jeffrey.

On the day of the heist, Marcus takes Chris to an abandoned housing project, supposedly to meet an informant with information on their homicide case. As they walk around the building, Marcus slips away and Luis comes in and tries to find Chris. Chris bumps into Gabe who tries to warn him that he is going to be killed. Luis then charges in and tries to shoot Chris, but hits Gabe. As Luis runs away, Chris confronts a critically wounded Gabe, and before he can say anything, Marcus comes in, triggering a shootout between the two. Gabe is killed and Marcus is severely wounded, which leads Chris to make the Triple 9 call.

Triple 9 is writer Matt Cook’s first effort, and some influences are clearly discernible. His script (then styled as 999) found its way in 2010’s Black List, the annual roundup of Hollywood’s hottest, unproduced screenplays, that included Juno, The Imitation Game and Edge Of Tomorrow. Producers had already decided to film it, but it stayed on the list nevertheless, attracting some buzz and helping the casting.

Taking an overview, it’s a simple case of overkill. Too many tracks and too many characters, most of them barely identified or introduced, lead to consternation. Some of the motives and motivations seem unfounded. A couple of police-druglord encounters are well-written. The basic premise of a Triple 9 call to distract the police, and the use of Georgia-based Russian- Jewish mafia as the villains-in-chief, are uncommon elements in a crime thriller, and are welcome. The Triple ploy 9 works, not so the ethnic baddies, who come across as caricatures cross-pollinated with sadists. Besides Russian Jews, there are whites, blacks and Hispanics, one half on either side of the law and some straddling both boats. Cook tries to be ingenious in the climax, but I could see it coming a mile away.

Directed by Australian-Canadian John Hillcoat (The Proposition, The Road, Lawless), Triple 9 boasts of some impressive encounters, but poor characterisations. Hillcoat lived in Connecticut in the late-’60s, where the charged atmosphere during anti-war protests and news coverage of the Vietnam War made a strong impression on him. He told a publication, “I watched a lot of cinema about violence in the ‘70s, as a young teenager, and was very impressed by a lot of those film-makers that took traditional genres and really explored it in a complex, interesting way that was really immersive.”

His 6^th film is complex for sure, but a little low on the ‘immersive’ and ‘interesting’ quotient. Much of the narrative is revealed through dialogue, in an accent that I, in India, was unable to definitely classify—Georgian/plain American/black American/Hebrew/Russian/Australian/’mumblian’? Hillcoat was to direct The Revenant (not reviewed by this critic because the PR agency co-ordinating the press screening apparently ‘forgot’ to send an invitation), and viewers might now wonder whether it was for the better that he did not

Casey Affleck (Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; younger brother of Ben; Good Will Hunting, Ocean’s Eleven, Gone Baby Gone) is brash and sincere in turns. His bonding with the other protagonist, Woody Harrelson (Indecent Proposal, Natural Born Killers, The People v/s Larry Flynt) as Jeffrey Allen, is not fleshed out. Harrelsen looks mean, has rock-carved features and is a drunkard. He is on the right track in trying to crack the case, but there is little sympathy generated for his methods or his (lack of) genius. Chiwetel Ejiofor (British; Love Actually, Salt, 12 Years a Slave) as Michael Atwood has a meaty role with a dichotomy of emotions. He is a hardened former special operations man who has a son from a mafia don’s wife’s sister. He can blow up buildings, kill by the dozen, cause massive car-wrecks and yet grovel at the Madam’s feet because she blackmails him using his son as bait. Good show, though under-utilised.

Kate Winslet (Titanic, The Reader, Divergent) as Irina Vlaslov is a laugh. You might find it difficult to recognise her, with those looks and that accent. Honestly, Winslet is wasted in the role, using choice expletives and looking murderous being all that she does. Yet, why do I feel she was having fun? Anthony Mackie (Captain America, Notorious, Ant-Man, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer) as Marcus Belmont is one of the bad cops and the buddy half. His soft looks could fool you into believing he is a good guy, but the film reveals his credentials right in the beginning. Aaron Paul (Mission Impossible: 3, Need for Speed, Breaking Bad, Exodus: Gods and Kings) as Gabe Welch has to mainly mope and stagger, and so he does. Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead) as Russell Welch meets a terrible end, as a driving dead. Gal Gadot (Israeli; Fast and Furious, Justice League, Batman v/s Superman) as Elena shows long legs, a long face, oozes sex and waddles around. Clifton Collins, Jr. (German-Mexican; Transcendence, Star Trek, Pacific Rim) as Franco Rodriguez looks the kind of guy you would not trust, just the persona the script demanded. Playing a cross-dresser is Michael K. Williams as Peacock, never an easy part to play, and he plays it well. Luis Da Silva as Luis Pinto is the quintessential Hispanic drug-gang hit-man.

Music by Atticus Ross, Bobby Krlic, Leopold Ross and Claudia Sarne, mainly Ross, contributes to the ambience.

There is little that is positive in the film, which ‘noirer’ than most noire films. People keep popping off like nine pins. Some of the butchery, and almost all the profanity and nudity are gratis. At best, it is a case of wasted opportunity. There was the germ of an idea that, unfortunately for the film, did not develop into a proper entity. Instead, it spread all over, much like the shower of bullets that punctuates the screenplay. Such a high-profile ensemble cast deserved better.

Rating: **1/2

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bu2aQRP4ITg