Triple 9 is a 2016 American heist action thriller film directed by John Hillcoat and written by Matt Cook.
The film stars an ensemble cast featuring Casey Affleck, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Anthony Mackie, Aaron Paul, Clifton Collins Jr., Norman Reedus, Teresa Palmer, Michael K. Williams, Gal Gadot, Woody Harrelson, and Kate Winslet.
An Atlanta criminal crew consisting of former Navy SEALs Michael Atwood and Russell Welch, Russell's ex-cop brother Gabe, and corrupt APD detectives Marcus Belmont and Franco Rodriguez, rob a bank to retrieve a safe deposit box, which contains information that could overturn the recent conviction of a Jewish-Russian Mafia boss.
The group decides to go forward with the job, and Marcus and Franco suggest a Triple 9 scenario, which involves an "officer down" call that sends all of the police to the location of the incident, with Marcus nominating his new partner, Chris Allen, a Marine veteran, as the cop to be killed.
After being beaten, Michael walks back to his car and triggers a bomb that was wired into his "gift," killing Irina.
As the two head to the car, Chris receives a call from Jeffrey, who tells him that Franco has been cleaning the house and that he might be next.
As Chris makes a Triple 9 call, Jeffrey calmly pulls a joint and smokes it, leaving his fate unknown.
The project was first announced in August 2010 with director John Hillcoat circling Matt Cook's crime drama script Triple Nine, set to star Shia LaBeouf, with Steve Golin attached to produce.
Shia LaBeouf was initially attached to star in the film but later left the project and was replaced by Charlie Hunnam.
[13] In August 2013, Cate Blanchett and Christoph Waltz were in talks to join the cast[14] but later dropped out and instead Kate Winslet and Woody Harrelson came on board.
[26] Due to heavy rain, some scenes remained unfinished while shooting at Centennial Olympic Park, where filming again took place from August 5–6, 2014.
The site's consensus reads, "Triple 9's pulpy potboiler thrills don't quite live up to the ferocious talents of its cast, but the film's efficient, solidly crafted genre fun is often enough to balance its troublesome flaws.
[34] Tom Huddleston of Time Out gave Triple 9 four out of five stars, positively comparing the film to Michael Mann's Heat.
Huddleston praised the ensemble cast and concluded that the film is "carried off with brashness and momentum by a director who genuinely seems to be having a blast.
"[37] Variety's Justin Chang was less receptive towards the film's narrative, but applauded its action sequences and wrote that the "result is a film that conveys the eerie sense of lying in wait for all its characters, and the paranoia is infectious, with at least two scenes certain to have viewers checking their car backseats upon exiting the theater.
"[39] While praising Anthony Mackie's performance and Nicholas Karakatsanis's cinematography, Indiewire's Oliver Lyttelton criticized the film's narrative structure as unsatisfying, suggesting that "perhaps there's a longer cut out there… perhaps that cut led to a film that felt like it was actually about something.
Duralde writes: "…[Triple 9] somehow managed to collect an impressively A-list cast on its way toward becoming a cop movie that's not just dumb, it's disastrous.