Triple 9

Olivier Marchal, David Ayer, Shawn Ryan, James Ellroy and, last but not least, Don Winslow are the big names of dirty harsh criminal movies about corrupt police officers in the movies/series/literature. And with this feature-length debut, Matt Cook enters the same room with them. He lags behind but only a little bit. Yes, it has such potential. It's a pity that it´s conflicting with Hillcoat's concept, because chose the wrong pace of narration. Considering how much is happening and on how many levels, it gives you feeling that it´s way too lengthy. I´m not saying boring, not at all. But this movie was supposed to be an adrenaline-fueled ride driven by inner tension and not a slow-paced something that looks like nothing is really going on. But even that being said, it´s exceptional in terms of genre. And even more considering that similar movies were almost exclusively made as series. (01/06/2016)

Triple 9 offers a fairly authentic excursion into the dirty streets of Atlanta, which are full of ruthless mobsters, dangerous gangs and corrupt cops. Even though the situation is portrayed quite believably, there was still something missing and I personally would have shortened the running time a bit. As far as the cast is concerned, I was mostly satisfied, (as always) especially with Kate Winslet, who really suited the villain role and had an absolutely great accent. (06/06/2016)

If I leave aside the fact that this film offers rather solid action scenes, I wouldn’t know what else I should talk about in this case. Triple 9 had a great cast of actors and it didn’t manage to work with them well enough for me to get used to any single one of them at least for a while. Instead, the movie focuses on a band of nasty Hispanic guys who make life miserable both for the group of familiar actors and for ourselves. And that’s a world I don’t need to see. (18/03/2017)

A great crime movie that would benefit from being a couple of minutes longer to make it easier to orient oneself in the story. These days it’s almost a miracle to see something so bloody with such a well thought-out storyline and such an excellent cast. Hillcoat puts on a great performance. Ejiofor is pleasant at last, and Winslet is just perfect. Triple 9 is both the purpose and the result in a thoughtful probe into the world of today’s police. This little piggy... (29/05/2016)

Seemingly perfect, because at first glance everything looks as it should to be a proper crime drama. It has nice covers, a stellar cast in atypical roles (Chiwetel Ejiofo, Kate Winslet), and a well-known director of cruelty behind the camera. But in the end, it only looks like that, because this heist story like The Town is just a conundrum of who survives the longest. There’s no tangible plot, and the little there is punishingly quickly wrapped up. Watching 115 minutes of mobsters, junkies, Nazis, tattooed Mexicans, etc. who's going to hit who first, a raw probe into the criminal rabble of a big American city population, it’s not bad, especially when the demon Atticus Ross plays along and that out-of-focus, volatile camera makes you feel like Ayer assisted. But script-wise, it's a complete piece of shit. (04/06/2016)