Triple 9
Director: John Hillcoat
Talent: Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck
Release Date: 19th February 2016
When a crew of corrupt cops are forced by a Russian-Israeli mob boss (Winslet) to commit an seemingly impossible heist, the group plan to engineer the death of one of their fellow officers (Affleck) in order to distract the city’s police force with the resulting 999 radio call (a ‘triple nine’). The plot is difficult to explain succinctly, which in itself speaks volumes about the film’s main flaw: Triple Nine fails massively as a feature because its writers operate under the greedy and erroneous assumption that more equals better. Tired tropes are sloppily piled on top of one another, picked up and then dropped with the attentiveness of a hyperactive toddler unable to decide which toy to play with. An A-list cast and interesting cinematography may create surface appeal, but this film is ultimately a superficial trifle, leaving the viewer dissatisfied and underwhelmed despite gratuitous action, gore and heavy-handed attempts to create tension.
Words: Eva Short
