A new film from director John Hillcoat should be reason to celebrate. From 2006’s revisionist Western
The Proposition to 2009’s ultra-postapocalyptic
The Road to 2012’s Prohibition-era drama
Lawless, this is a filmmaker who smashes stereotypes in well-explored genres makes us see familiar stories from new angles. So what happened with
Triple 9? How did Hillcoat manage to make an urban heist thriller—about criminals using the murder of a police officer as a diversion—feel so, well, generic? How did he manage to render his terrific cast—which includes such names as Chiwetel Ejiofor, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, Casey Affleck, and Anthony Mackie—as characters too unlikable to be genuinely engaging, but not complex or twisted enough to be intriguing anyway? Is it all down to the script, by newcomer Matt Cook? That doesn’t seem like enough of an explanation. There are certainly moments here that are superbly tense and dripping with anxiety. But then they’re over, and we’re left with a hollow emptiness. Hillcoat’s films have, previously, been haunting; they linger with you long after they’re over. But I had all but forgotten
Triple 9 the minute it ended.
By
MaryAnn Johanson