5/3/2016 - Triple 9 (2016) - 5/10

With this cast, director and the gripping nature of the film, I was hoping for something grand. What I got was a bit of a misfire, still winging its intended target, but blowing up in my hand at the same time. What could have been killer ended up as only a maimer.

There is some fine acting (Ejifor most notably) and it started as a good action/thriller/mystery, but the film had focus issues, spreading itself too thin. When there should have been one main plot (ala Heat) to drive the film, they muddled it with less fleshed out plot lines that interweaved but did not deliver. Perhaps Hillcoat does better with much more straightforward storytelling like his "The Proposition" and "The Road". This one got away from him, only providing the chalk outlines of full stories, not the full and emotional bodies themselves.

As noted before, there were really great performances from a ton of fine & notable actors (Omar from the Wire as the head trans whore being a fun example). Certainly its strong suit.

Boils down to a well acted Training Day lite, without the emphasis on a particular protagonist/antagonist. Ok, but a bit disappointing.