Triple Frontier
2.5/4
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Garrett Hedlund, Pedro Pascal
Rated R for Violence and Language Throughout
It was all supposed to be so simple.
Five guys take out an untouchable drug lord, relieve him of as much cash as possible, and fly away to safety. Of course, things are never that easy. And when you make the mistake of believing in your own genius, you have to pay the price.
Pope (Isaac) is at the end of a long and violent career. He's spent the past few years pursuing a drug lord named Lorea (Reynaldo Gallegos) with nothing to show for it but bad knees and a lot of dead bodies. He sees an opportunity to settle the score and make out with more cash than he could have made in a thousand lifetimes in his career. Lorea stores all of his money in his safehouse, so he and his buddies Redfly (Affleck), Ironhead (Hunnam), Ben (Hedlund) and Catfish (Pascal) will eliminate Lorea and steal as much of his money as they can get their hands on. He has planned the perfect crime. But no op is ever perfect, and soon they are all in a fight for their lives.
Although "Triple Frontier" seems like a heist film, it's not. That's the first act, and it's the strongest part of the film. The majority of the film is an adventure story as the five bros try to escape with the money. Unfortunately, this part of the film is sluggishly paced and not nearly as deep or as involving as J.C. Chandor thinks it is.
"Triple Frontier" did not have a happy production history. It took the better part of 10 years to make, and it had a rotating cast of actors attached, which included everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Tom Hanks (no joke). Paramount dropped the project after Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum backed out and it was eventually picked up by Netflix. Despite top talent involved (Kathyrn Bigalow is listed as an executive producer while Mark Boal co-wrote the screenplay...they were the creative team behind the overrated "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty"), "Triple Frontier" remains an adventure movie with limited interest or excitement.
Still, it has a cast of actors with rock solid resumes, and they don't disappoint. Oscar Isaac is a good actor whose career is on the rise, and for good reason. His portrayal of the amoral Pope is sympathetic, despite the fact that he is selfish, amoral and greedy. Charlie Hunnam and Ben Affleck are their reliable selves (Affleck even sports a beer gut for the role) while never-was Garrett Hedlund shows why he should have had a better career than he got. Pedro Pascal rounds out the cast in a solid character performance.
Ultimately the film is undone by the pacing (fifteen minutes could have been shaved off), the lack of a consistent threat from their pursuers (who are barely mentioned until they show up halfway through the film) and a weak ending that suffers from lackluster presentation and character development that is poorly motivated. It contains some decent action and J.C. Chandor is still a director with good instincts, but this is the man who debuted with "Margin Call." He can do better.
"Triple Frontier" isn't a bad movie, but it's hard to imagine who it was made for. It's too sluggish and underplayed for action junkies, and too thin and obvious for those who want more substance. It's a disappointment.
Starring: Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Garrett Hedlund, Pedro Pascal
Rated R for Violence and Language Throughout
It was all supposed to be so simple.
Five guys take out an untouchable drug lord, relieve him of as much cash as possible, and fly away to safety. Of course, things are never that easy. And when you make the mistake of believing in your own genius, you have to pay the price.
Pope (Isaac) is at the end of a long and violent career. He's spent the past few years pursuing a drug lord named Lorea (Reynaldo Gallegos) with nothing to show for it but bad knees and a lot of dead bodies. He sees an opportunity to settle the score and make out with more cash than he could have made in a thousand lifetimes in his career. Lorea stores all of his money in his safehouse, so he and his buddies Redfly (Affleck), Ironhead (Hunnam), Ben (Hedlund) and Catfish (Pascal) will eliminate Lorea and steal as much of his money as they can get their hands on. He has planned the perfect crime. But no op is ever perfect, and soon they are all in a fight for their lives.
Although "Triple Frontier" seems like a heist film, it's not. That's the first act, and it's the strongest part of the film. The majority of the film is an adventure story as the five bros try to escape with the money. Unfortunately, this part of the film is sluggishly paced and not nearly as deep or as involving as J.C. Chandor thinks it is.
"Triple Frontier" did not have a happy production history. It took the better part of 10 years to make, and it had a rotating cast of actors attached, which included everyone from Leonardo DiCaprio to Tom Hanks (no joke). Paramount dropped the project after Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum backed out and it was eventually picked up by Netflix. Despite top talent involved (Kathyrn Bigalow is listed as an executive producer while Mark Boal co-wrote the screenplay...they were the creative team behind the overrated "The Hurt Locker" and "Zero Dark Thirty"), "Triple Frontier" remains an adventure movie with limited interest or excitement.
Still, it has a cast of actors with rock solid resumes, and they don't disappoint. Oscar Isaac is a good actor whose career is on the rise, and for good reason. His portrayal of the amoral Pope is sympathetic, despite the fact that he is selfish, amoral and greedy. Charlie Hunnam and Ben Affleck are their reliable selves (Affleck even sports a beer gut for the role) while never-was Garrett Hedlund shows why he should have had a better career than he got. Pedro Pascal rounds out the cast in a solid character performance.
Ultimately the film is undone by the pacing (fifteen minutes could have been shaved off), the lack of a consistent threat from their pursuers (who are barely mentioned until they show up halfway through the film) and a weak ending that suffers from lackluster presentation and character development that is poorly motivated. It contains some decent action and J.C. Chandor is still a director with good instincts, but this is the man who debuted with "Margin Call." He can do better.
"Triple Frontier" isn't a bad movie, but it's hard to imagine who it was made for. It's too sluggish and underplayed for action junkies, and too thin and obvious for those who want more substance. It's a disappointment.
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