Taglines: The code on the street is never black and white.
The film follows a group of criminals and corrupt cops who find themselves in serious trouble. The Russian mafia is blackmailing them, and the only way to deal with them is to perform what is believed to be an extremely challenging heist. Impossible as it may seem, however, they eventually hatch a plan: on one side of town, half of the crew will plan the murder of a rookie cop named Chris Allen (Casey Affleck), and while the rest of the force is distracted by a 999 call (“officer down”), the other half of the corrupt cops will pull off the job.
Triple 9 is a 2016 American crime 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, with Woody Harrelson, and Kate Winslet. The film was released on February 26, 2016 in the United States by Open Road Films. In the United Kingdom the film was released by eOne. The film polarized critics and audiences, and was a box office disappointment, grossing $23.4 million against its $20 million production budget.
The project was first announced in August 2010 with director John Hillcoat circling Matt Cook’s crime drama script Triple Nine, which will star Shia LaBeouf and Steve Golin is attached to produce. Cook’s script was included in Black List scripts of 2010. Hillcoat confirmed his direction of the film later in May 2012, additionally the casting of LaBeouf and Nick Cave will score the music for the film were also confirmed. Later, Cave left the project and Atticus Ross came on board to compose the score for the film. In February 2014 Open Road Films acquired the US distribution rights to the film[15] and Worldview Entertainment came on board to finance the film after the exit of Panorama Media.
About the Story
In Atlanta, Georgia, criminals Michael Atwood (Chiwetel Ejiofor), Russell Welch (Norman Reedus), and his brother Gabe (Aaron Paul), along with two corrupt cops, Marcus Belmont (Anthony Mackie) and Franco Rodriguez (Clifton Collins Jr.), rob a bank to retrieve a safe deposit box. The box contains information that could overturn the recent conviction of a Jewish-Russian Mafia boss. When Michael brings the safe deposit box to the boss’ wife, Irina (Kate Winslet), she withholds their reward money and gives Michael and his crew another mission, which involves breaking into a government office and stealing more data on her husband. To convince them to take the job, the mafia tortures and then dumps a mortally wounded Russell off in front of the crew, forcing Michael to mercy-kill Russell in front of them, traumatizing Gabe.
The group decides to go forward with the job. As they think of ways they can pull it off, 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 (Casey Affleck). Marcus tries to befriend Chris as they go out on calls together.
During one call, Chris attempts to question a local gang member, Luis Pinto (Luis Da Silva), about a gang-related homicide, only for Luis to attack Chris before being detained for his actions. Chris’s uncle, Jeffrey Allen (Woody Harrelson), is a Sgt. Detective in the police force working on the bank robbery case. Jeffrey gets a lead and discovers that Gabe is one of the people involved in the bank robbery. Gabe, still grieving over his brother, tries to stop the heist from happening by following Chris and Marcus around and telling Chris, but is stopped both by Michael and Jeffrey.
On the day of the heist, Marcus takes Chris to an abandoned housing project to meet an informant with information on their homicide case. As they walk around the building, Marcus slips away, and Luis comes in and tries to find Chris. Chris bumps into Gabe who tries to warn him that he is going to die. Luis then charges in and tries to shoot Chris but hits Gabe. As Luis runs away, Chris confronts a critically wounded Gabe.
Before Gabe can say anything, Marcus comes in, triggering a shootout between the two. Gabe is killed, and Marcus is shot in the head. Fearing Marcus is dead, Chris makes the Triple 9 call. Thinking his nephew is the officer down, Jeffrey rushes to the scene. Meanwhile, Michael and Franco break into the government office and steal the information with little police disruption. Luis flees the projects and is later shot dead by SWAT after barricading himself in a nearby home.
Triple 9
Directed by: John Hillcoat
Starring: Teresa Palmer, Gal Gadot, Kate Winslet, Norman Reedus, Aaron Paul, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Michelle Ang, Susanne Marie Danger
Screenplay by: Matt Cook
Production Design by: Tim Grimes
Cinematography by: Nicolas Karakatsanis
Film Editing by: Dylan Tichenor
Costume Design by: Margot Wilson
Set Decoration by: Jacqueline Jacobson Scarfo
MPAA Rating: R for strong violence and language throughout, drug use and some nudity.
Studio: Open Road Films
Release Date: February 26, 2016
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