Triple 9

From John Hillcoat the Australian filmmaker who gave us the enthralling apocalyptic thriller The Road comes a new modern day heist movie about a bunch of corrupt Atlanta cops and ex-soldiers who are about to pull off one last job for the Russian-Israeli Mafia. The gang's leader Michael Atwood (a terrific Chiwetel Ejiofor)  is pulled up sharp by the Mafia boss the ruthless Irina (a total scene-stealing Kate Winslet) who tells him that they will in fact have to stage yet another robbery or face very unfortunate circumstances which can get very personal for Michael as the mother of his child is Irina's younger sister.

Their new task is break into a Homeland Security bunker to steal the files from that, together with the contents of the Safe Deposit Box that they just raided a major bank for, will be enough evidence to free Irina's husband who is currently languishing in a prison cell as a 'guest' of Vladmir Putin.  When Michael appears reluctant to do Irina's bidding this time around, she sends a 'message' in the form of one of his gang members who is so badly beaten up he is practically dead that Michael has no alternative to than to finish the poor man off, and agree to Irina's demands.  

This action packed thriller is an ensemble piece that has more than its fair share of talented actors : the other gang members are played by Aaron Paul, Norman Reedus, Anthony Mackie and include a stand out performance by a sinister-looking Clifton Collins Jr. Mackie plays Detective Marcus Belmont who is assigned  a new partner at the Precinct a rather green and totally honest policeman called Chris Allen (a magnificent Casey Affleck).  Chris's uncle is the major crimes investigator on the force Jeffrey Allen (a wonderfully sardonic Woody Harrison) and he is determined to ape his success.

With his unbending ways Chris inadvertently becomes the perfect ruse to cover the impending robbery as the gang know that the best way to divert the attention of the entire police force is when one of their own is shot.  The code for that is 999 and implies that every officer must drop what they are doing and immediately rush to the scene. Marcus has no qualms about carrying the cold-blooded killing  out, but what seems like a foolproof plan on paper is never ever quite the same in reality.

Plenty of high speed car chases through Atlanta, incessant gun battles and some sheer bloody minded violence keeps the whole thing rattling on at quite a fast pace, and the fact that not all of the plot twists are that predictable make this (almost) two hour high octane thriller very diverting.  It is however without doubt the acting of its leads that lift it way above average, and Winslet and Harrelson in particular are a sheer joy to watch.

★★★★★★★★