Triple Frontier

Five ex-soldiers venture into the South American jungle to steal tens of millions of dollars from a drug kingpin. But getting the money to safety will be much harder than they thought. Triple Frontier may look like an action movie, but while there is action (and good action), it relies much more on atmosphere, appealing characters and a more realistic approach. Instead of a film full of shootouts and chases, what we end up with is a slowly told gritty drama, but one that manages to get under the skin and is perhaps more interesting in the end than if it had a gunfight every ten minutes. (03/20/2019)

An outstanding drama for men about the importance of money. A group of soldiers go to pick up their pay and, even if most things go right, one screw-up is enough. The scenery is wonderful, a feast for the eyes. A great role for Affleck, and Chandor gets the maximum out of everybody. There’s not much action, but when there is, it’s pleasantly realistic. The most important lesson of all is that even an honorable man can turn into a swine when he’s thrown into the deep end. (03/17/2019)

A manly military relationship drama with an interesting plot, and a solid, sometimes very unpredictable script up to three quarters of the way through. When the main heist scene takes place in the middle of the film, it’s clear that the escape won’t be an easy task. Unfortunately, the last quarter sees the main characters suffering from acute lobotomies, and you just watch their decisions with your mouth open, shaking your head in disbelief at their thought process. If that was the intention of the filmmakers, then it is very over the top dark humour. Unfortunately, this Netflix feature is also a bit weaker due to the presumably smaller budget. Plus points for the beautiful locations and for Ben Affleck. (03/31/2019)

I was expecting more intense action scenes, which didn’t quite materialize, and instead, I got a solid manly drama focusing on dialogue and, occasionally, some shooting. The opening scene with the helicopter over the dirty streets, accompanied by Metallica’s music, really got me pumped. The five main characters were extremely likable; the actors themselves are so charismatic that transferring that to their characters seemed easy. The heist happened in the first half. I give the film a big thumbs up for the realism of the action scenes—no emptying of magazines, just effective shooting with single, precise shots, checking room corners, basically things you’d expect from seasoned veterans on the battlefield (though not every film delivers this, rest assured). Then came the part of the film that I’d personally call...HOW EVERYTHING CAN GO WRONG. Whether it was the not-so-thought-out moves of the characters or just plain bad luck (the scene with the farmers significantly affected the plot), everything started to go south. The filmmakers also threw in a major twist that shuffled the deck. I’d usually be annoyed by an open ending, but here it fit well; the final scene with the piece of paper was satisfying. I enjoyed it; the acting was above standard, and for an action film, it had a decent plot that definitely didn’t play second fiddle. I give it 82%. (03/22/2019)

A boyish spectacle of the Michael Caine's Play Dirty / John Frankenheimer's The Train / Kelly's Heroes type. Clearly written characters, a clearly given situation, and a clear plan that just has to get messed up somehow – not once and not a little. The literally stellar cast pulls it together nicely and no one sticks out, the direction also sticks pleasantly to the ground and makes the action and pure adventure scenes as believable as it gets. Plus, I liked that the film managed to surprise as well. (04/08/2019)