Triple 9 is no melodrama, as the viewer is on edge during the entire two-hour movie as they witness betrayal after betrayal leading to a less than happy ending. Triple 9 is cop talk for “officer down” and this is what a crew consisting of career criminals and dirty cops need as a distraction to pull off their last heist, which they are being forced to do by the Russian–Jewish Mafia led by British actress Kate Winslet (Titanic), hoping to free her husband from prison.
The hero of the movie is Chris Allen played by Casey Affleck (Gone Baby Gone), a young Georgian officer trying to make a difference, but as his uncle, a veteran pot smoking, drug addict, drunk cop played by the always memorable Woody Harrelson (No Country For Old Men), tells him “You’re gonna make a difference. You ain’t gonna make a f–ing difference. Forget about that. Your job: out-monster the monster then get home at the end of the night.” The director, John Hillcoat (The Road) and screenwriter Matt Cook choose to shed more light on the lives and motivations of the criminals, showing the human side of the antagonists by furthering the plot before the viewer gets to know Affleck’s character, who navigates through the mess that is three severed heads, countless dead bodies, and a Latino Lieutenant in a Georgian project.
Triple 9 benefits from excellent performances by its star studded cast including Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave), Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Anthony Mackie (Captain America: The Winter Soldier), and Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad), playing his usual role as a drug addict whose actions threaten to unravel everything. Triple 9 is nonstop and has enough twist and turns, violence, and dirty cops to hold up with its peers in the genre. Reviews on this movie are mixed, Rotten Tomatoes gave it a score of 55%, which means about half of critics gave it a positive review. In this reviewer’s opinion, the score is low due to a grim story that offers little hope, nor attempts to, to the audience about the state of police in America. As Nietzsche said “There is Beyond Good and Evil”. If you’re looking for a happy movie to lift your spirits, skip it, but if you’re in the mood for something gritty, well acted, and with numerous plot twists, go see this movie!
