Monday 22 February 2016

Film: 'Triple 9'

Brutal, frequently grisly, but also a trifle tedious, Atlanta-set tale of double-faced police corruption and its involvement with the Russian 'Mafia', a film peopled with unlikeable characters in a sequence of set shoot-out pieces, which includes 'good cop' Woody Harrelson. Then there's Casey Affleck and Chiwetel Ejiofor (the latter good to see in any role) filling the main male leads while Kate Winslet is a Russian matriarchal and chief-villainess figure.

It's okay, on the whole, but little more than that. I've seen this sort of drama done better and more excitingly, and there's not much here that is genuinely new. I wasn't really rooting for anyone - and when the guilty parties did meet their just terminations in one form or the other I couldn't have much cared, with some of the developments being pretty predictable. It's all forgettable fodder though will probably fulfil the needs of anyone demanding diversion for a couple of hours, then for them to to file it away in the 'seen' folder. 

Director John Coathill achieved a much more satisfying film with his 'The Road' of 2009. Here he proves he's one of the 'lads' with a 'thriller' of all guns and bluster but little underneath.

Nothing too special, then - it just about fits the bill, but only just...........................5.

(Following day - I'm wondering if my rating is just a wee bit on the generous side.)

4 comments:

  1. Definitely not tempted by this one! I am off to see Brooklyn this afternoon, much more suitable for a little old lady like me.

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    1. Oh, you'll like Brooklyn, Judith - and I'd surmise it would be much more than you'd like this one. I'm still feeling a bit abashed that 'Brooklyn' didn't make my 2015 Top 10, though it was only by a whisker that it didn't.

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  2. My " object of affection" norman Reedus from The Walking Dead is part of the cast!

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    1. Having never seen, 'Waking', J.G., I couldn't place N.R. But now that I've looked him up (Oh, THAT one!) I have to concede that he did catch my eye. Don't know if it'd be worth sitting through the film to savour his presence, though.

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