Triple 9

Sometimes what you have to offer can be just a little too bit grimy for the general public. Whether it’s music, art, film, or your grandmother’s famous sloppy jo’s, there are just some things you will never get everyday people to try, simply for the fact that it’s too heavy, too dark, or they’re just not ready for it. It’s like the time I picked up a girl for our first date and I played Rza as Bobby Digital: The Digital Bullet for her. Or the time I hooked up with this cute girl for the first time and I played Rza as Bobby Digital: Bobby Digital in Stereo as it was happening; neither experience was welcomed with open arms.

Well regardless of whether people are ready for it or not, you have to go ahead and put freshness out there anyway because the world shouldn’t be denied the finer things in life simply because sheep rule the majority. And this is exactly why John Hillcoat’s (The Road, Lawless) latest film Triple 9 was released with such an All Star cast. It’s a smart, grimy, and harsh look into the dark underworld that is crooked cops, the Russian mafia, and unscrupulous mercenaries.

Triple 9 is the story of two ex-military guns for hire in Chiwetel Ejiofor and Norman Reedus who, along with crooked cops Anthony Mackie, Clifton Collins Jr., and Aaron Paul, are out to complete one final heist for Russian mobster Kate Winslet. Now I know that last part sounds a bit suspect but just bear with me for a moment. As is typically the case with mobsters, the group was shafted by Winslet and her crew when it came time to pay up for services rendered because they needed them to pull off one more seemingly impossible task. The crew is obviously upset over this but they the mobsters really leave them with no other option. So after weighing all of the possible scenarios, they believe the only way they can be successful is to manufacture a 999 call. If you don’t know what that is, that’s police talk for "officer down". Once that happens, every available police officer in the town converges on site to support their fallen comrade; basically leaving every other part of the city unprotected, or as criminals like to call it, open season.

This should provide plenty of time for the crew to pull off their job and finally get their big payday. But one problem exists, who is the cop they’ll select to kill to set off this 999? Well as it turns on, the cop they select is Casey Affleck, the little brother of Woody Harrelson, the detective who has been in charge to find the crew that pulled off this recent string of robberies (Ejiofor’s crew). So the race is on to see if Woody, who is basically playing his character from True Detective here, can figure out who is behind this mayhem before it’s too late.

The more I think about this film, the more I like it! There are double crosses, Mexican cartels, severed heads, and transvestite strippers; basically everything you’d expect from Atlanta. Nearly every scene is intense and you honestly feels as though someone could get killed at any given moment. With the exception of the occasional disappearing accent on Winslet’s part, the acting is superb and Gal Gadot is once again a vision.

You will walk out of this film swearing that you will never let your kids join the military, go to Russia, or even play cops and robbers in the backyard. I give this movie a rating of very FRESH!