Codice 999

It's not a masterpiece, but it absolutely stands out in the landscape of the last few years productions. Triple 9 is gritty, hyperrealistic, dramatic, and cursed. No millennial fancies. Great acting, good direction. Solid. Surely worth a watch.

Triple 9, set in the gun-ridden streets of Atlanta, is surprisingly well executed and at times impressive to look at. But it does leave a rather unpleasant after-taste: like last year's Liam Neeson vehicle "Run All Night", virtually no one in the film has a redeeming feature which makes it difficult to empathise or root for anyone.

The excellent Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Twelve Years a Slave") plays Michael Atwood, the leader of a gang doing a bank job for the Russian mafia led by Irina Vlaslov (Kate WInslet). The gang stay one step ahead of the local cops by plotting patrol car movements on a GIS map: that's pretty easy for them since they are all crooked cops and ex-military. Atwood's character is intimately linked to Vlaslov's, as he has a son with her sister Elena (Gal Gadot). But the mafia is not easy to please and Atwood is strong-armed into doing a second, more challenging job that requires a significant police diversion. This diversion is the root of the "999" of the title: the call sign for "officer down".

Investigating the robbery and the subsequent chain of events is flawed cop Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson), who is also trying to help his nephew Chris (Casey Affleck) aclimitise to the city's gang culture following a transfer from a much cushier neighbourhood. The strands of the story intertwine to violent and bloody ends as Atwood fights to protect his family and escape the ever-tightening grip of the mafia and the closing net of Harrelson's dogged detective.

All the performances here a generally excellent. Ejiofor is an actor who perfects the look of being totally hacked off, and here he has plenty of opportunities to exercise that. His closest colleague Belmont (Anthony Mackie, Falcon from the "Avengers" films) is also extremely watchable. Elsewhere, the shapely Miss Gadot is a little too one-dimensionally drawn for my taste, but the other members of the gang and Harrelson and Affleck as the two 'good guy' cops are nicely portrayed. The most surprising turn though is that of Winslet who revels in her evil Russian bitch persona, a role diverging from her usual norm and which is great to watch.

The story and screenplay by newcomer Matt Cook is sufficiently dense to require attention in following it – it reminded me in places of "LA Confidential" – and like that film contains enough twists and turns to keep up the interest. Character development though is limited, so when the twists do happen its an "oh" rather than an "OH!". The screenplay is let down by a bit of a damp squib of an ending and one that doesn't bear close scrutiny – if you've seen the film, the hero is SURELY in more imminent peril in the two minutes preceding the denouement?? But the journey to get to the ending is satisfying enough.

Cinematography (Nicolas Karakatsanis, "The Drop") and film editing (Dylan Tichenor, "There Will be Blood") are also worthy of note, particularly with the impressive opening titles which straight away tell you this is not just A.N.other cop 'B' movie.The robbery scenes and one involving a police raid on an apartment building are both well edited and exciting.

So, in summary, a good solid job by director John Hillcoat ("The Road") that is worthy of your rental dollar. Just make sure you have some TV/movie 'sorbet' to cleanse the palate after watching.

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I am at a split when it comes to 'Triple 9'. On one end, there were few moments where I did enjoy the film. The actors are powerhouses and did what they could with the material given to them. Some plot points were interesting to me and had my attention and lastly, I am sure there is a certain symbolism behind the constant use of the color red that is shown in a high majority of scenes. On the other end, however, there was way too much I did not enjoy. From start to finish, I hardly understood any of the characters connections to anyone. They are explained in as little detail as possible. It just was not my cup of tea as far as understanding who the characters were and what was their purpose. Kate Winslet was absolutely atrocious to me. From her seemingly forced role to her forgetful "Russian accent" as she seemed to forget she was Russian at times speaking perfect English and bouncing back to an "accent". The fan- favorite star power of Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul, Chiwetel Ejiofor and company was no where near enough to save this movie and draw enough of a crowd to make this movie even mistakenly good. Too many negatives and not enough positives. This movie is forgetful to me and nothing special. A few moments do not make up for a near two hours of confusion and plot holes.

Triple 9 is a dark and gloomy story, which feels strongly inspired by Michael Mann's Heat. Unlike Heat, the film/script doesn't give the characters enough substance to make us care for their outcome in the film. The ordeals of the characters came and went without me feeling any real emotions towards any of them.

This isn't a bad movie but it's not brilliant. There are a few of gun battle/action periods that are really well shot and entertaining enough to keep you interested in the film as a whole. It's not too predictable but there are not enough shocks or tense moments that you would expect from a thriller.

Triple 9 is a worthy modern day crime drama with an always interesting premise of corrupt cops strong-armed by mobsters to do the unthinkable. Under John Hillcoat's direction, the film's backdrop is grim & punishing, in tune with its themes where morals are an afterthought & survival comes bleak. The resulting events & action are absolutely well shot, unexpectedly visually creative, brutal, and best of all, authentic as hell, accounting for the film's best & most heart-racing moments. The violence & brooding suspense is held together by a score (& well placed absence of it) that amps the danger as one that lurks around the corner till it explodes to guns blazing chaos.

As for our leads, the characters & the ensemble cast behind them are another bright spots of the film. Props to Chiwetel Ejiofor, who's anguished persona was the best he has ever been. Anthony Mackie & Clifton Collins Jr were standouts as well, with the former deftly portraying the street wise, money-grubbing not so finest, & the latter stealing scenes with his menacing dead eyes & boorish nature.

As for the film's weak points, though Kate Winslet conveys cold hearted bad assery, her Russian accent was flat out laughable, randomly vanishing & surfacing within the same spiel. The narrative is as well too convoluted for its own good, rendering the final acts as one gigantic head scratching plot hole.

Overall, while Triple 9's shortcomings hinder the film from being great, the perfectly executed action & the excellence of its ensemble ensures a solid watch.