TRIPLE 9: POLICE HEIST

Australian director John Hillcoat made one of the most depressing movies I’ve ever witnessed, THE ROAD. While it was well made and took a serious look at what it would be like to survive the end of the world as we know it, it was indeed a movie not to allow anyone on a death watch view. Then he made LAWLESS which was quite different, the true story of a family who made their money via moonshine in the depression era Virginia. So when I heard he had a new movie coming out I was interested to see what it would be like.

TRIPLE 9 tells the story of bad cops gone worse. Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Mike, the leader of a crew of thieves, among which are two police detectives, Marcus (Anthony Mackie) and Franco (Clifton Collins Jr.). Mike owes the Russian mob another score and the job they have him scheduled for is a seemingly impossible task. As the gang plots out a method to accomplish their goal the only thing they can come up with is to create a situation that calls for a “triple 9” distress call, officer down. The call will result in all officers in the area being required to lend assistance thereby leaving their intended target unguarded for a short period.

But to do this there is one hitch. They must actually kill a fellow officer. While Marcus wrestles with this issue Franco is all about taking it on. The difference in characters makes for some interesting interaction between the pair. The decision is made and now they need to focus on just who they plan to set up.

Around this same time Marcus has been assigned a new partner, Chris Allen (Casey Affleck). Chris has been on the force for a while and is the nephew of Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson) a name to be reckoned with on the force. While Casey knows his way around police work he doesn’t know the streets he’s been assigned to like Marcus does. While partners they don’t see eye to eye on how to handle things. When the crew decides to choose Chris as their target it’s less difficult for Marcus due to the nature of their partnership.

Problems come not from Marcus but from fellow crew member Gabe (Aaron Paul), an addicted criminal who thinks this is going too far. As the film progresses Gabe tries to be the voice of reason and get them to refuse the job. What he isn’t aware of is that Mike has no option but to follow through. Failure to do so will result in not only retribution from the Russians but the loss of his son as well.

The movie works on some levels and not on others. As a well-conceived story you can tell that a lot of thought went into this one. Like an onion layers are peeled away getting to what is really going on and it’s never quite what it seems. That being said there is also not enough solid clues for viewers to pick up on the end result.

The acting here is some of the best you’ll find on screen, from the more well-known stars to those that are familiar faces yet not quite so familiar names. Collins is superbly slimy here as a cop who doesn’t care who he kills and has no morals whatsoever. Mackie does a great job showing that he can do more than don wings for superhero movies. Affleck proves that he has no reason to hide in his brother’s shadow. And Harrelson displays an ability that many would not have seen coming back when he played Woody on TV’s CHEERS.

The end result is a movie that’s not bad but not necessarily good either. At just under 2 hours there are moments that shine while others simply feel like the pace plods along. Had those scenes been trimmed down, left out or just written differently that might not have been the case but as is they offer moments where I found myself yawning and dozing occasionally. Do the good sequences make up for the bad? I would say yes they do but know going in that the movie will not be a slam bang shoot ‘em up that the trailer might have you believe. Realize that not everyone is going to walk away in the end and that the true story of what is going on here is deeper than you realize. If you do so you just might enjoy this one.





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