Can a movie still be considered good if the ending is bad?
Triple 9 starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Casey Affleck, Anthony
Mackie, Woody Harrelson, Aaron Paul, Kate Winslet, Norman Reedus, and directed
by John Hillcoat. Well that’s an impressive cast. Is the movie good with all
the talent assembled though? The film does deliver up until the very end, and
then goes off the rails. The movie tells the story of a group of thieves who
must complete two heists in order to satisfy the whims of the Jewish Mafia. Two
of the thieves in the gang are corrupt cops. They devise a plan for the second
heist to kill a cop which will divert attention away from the crime they plan
to commit.
This movie is packed with talented actors, and they all give
great performances. The only one who I didn’t completely buy was Kate Winslet
as the Mafia boss, but I didn’t even realize it was her in the movie while I
was watching. If she transformed herself so much for me not to notice it was
her as an actress that’s impressive. I might have more issues with how the
character was portrayed and how she was written. It might have just been hard
for me to buy into the Jewish Mafia being menacing. They are shown in the movie being extremely
tough, but it is still a little hard to think of the Jewish Mafia being
terrifying while wearing yarmulkes. Though I certainly don’t want to be caught
in a dark alley any of the characters in the movie. Chiwetel Eijofor’s
character is involved with the Mafia bosses sister and has a son with her. He
is the one tasked with putting a crew together and completing the heists. He is
fantastic, as always. Casey Aflec is also great and he is quickly becoming one
of my favorite actors. Woody Harrelson is Woody in the movie. I can’t think of
anyone else to play cop with substance abuse problems, but with a heart of
gold.
Along with the amazing cast, John Hillcoat does a good job
of directing the movie. The action is intense and visceral. You feel like you
are with the police officers as they storm a building, or along for the heist
as the crew knocks over a bank. You also never feel comfortable when Hillcoat
ratchets up the tension. I never felt like I knew what was going to happen
during each action sequence. Quite a few of the deaths throughout the course of
the film are unexpected. Some things outside of the action pieces however are
predictable and it’s towards the end of the movie when things go haywire.
I don’t know what to think about the ending. I was loving
the movie up until the end. The decisions made on how to finish the story just
left me frustrated with the film overall. I’m not sure what the ending was
supposed to mean, or if it was supposed to mean anything. They may have been
shooting for an ending which states life has no point, or that you reap what
you sow. If this was the case it was
executed poorly. It almost felt like they didn’t know how to tie up the movie
and rushed to a conclusion to tie up all the loose ends. The film almost needed
another fifteen minutes to expand on the story of each ensemble cast member.
The audience is left with too many unanswered questions about characters we
became attached to during the course of the movie.
There really isn’t too much more to say about Triple 9. It
is an extremely well-acted and directed action crime thriller. The story just
has a very unsatisfying ending. If you like crime thrillers I would suggest
going to see it, just lower your expectations overall. The movie is worth
seeing, just maybe at a matinee price, a rental fee, or even waiting for it on
a paid channel. If I see the movie on television I would stop and watch the
action scenes for sure, and probably get sucked in and then turn it off close
to the end of the film.
So are you planning on seeing Triple 9? If you have seen it
what did you think? What are some of your favorite crime thrillers or heist
movies? The Usual Suspects is up there for me. Comment and let me know.
No comments:
Post a Comment