FILM REVIEW OF ''TRIPLE FRONTIER" (2019)

The premise of "Triple Frontier," (** OUT OF ****) Netflix's limited theatrical release about retired special-ops who rob a South American drug trafficker, sounded promising. "All is Lost" director J.C. Chandor and Oscar-winning "Hurt Locker" scenarist Mark Boal focus on a team of sympathetic, hard-luck, military types who should appeal to any red-blooded connoisseur of American action cinema. Furthermore, these heroes see this mission as their chance to start over. Despite their faithful military service to Uncle Sam, they received neither proper recognition nor sufficient compensation. Now, they embark on a campaign to plunder millions in blood money from a notorious narcotics honcho. Everything boils down to black and white simplicity. Our heroes are cut from the same clichés as Sylvester Stallone's far more seasoned cronies in the "The Expendables" trilogy, and they do come loaded for bear. Nevertheless, these guys behave like amateurs, compounding one mistake after another, and undermining their own best efforts. Since the good guys must be sympathetic, the villains must be repugnant. Cartel drug traffickers qualify as ideal heavies. Reviled in real life as much as on the screen, they kill without a qualm and hold nothing sacred. They deserve to die a thousand times. Our heroes should be virtuously white, while the villains should be shady as sin. Comparably, James Brolin led a group of amateurs on a similar mission in "High Risk" (1981), but everybody survived with their loot intact for a triumphant finale. "Triple Frontier" had potential, but it wastes its powerhouse cast (Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, and Pedro Pascal) in a hackneyed hokum about the malevolence of greed. Like we don't know the corrosive nature of greed. Presumably, Chandor and Boal must have cut their teeth on the Humphrey Bogart classic "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" (1948) because "Triple Frontier" contains a similar storyline. Unfortunately, this escapist oriented, testosterone-laden tale turns sour in Chandor and Boal's hands. Imagine what "The Expendables" might have been if they lost, and you may pass up watching "Triple Frontier."

Technically, "Triple Frontier" is a crime movie instead of an adventure epic. Our heroes initiate a home invasion and loot a wealthy cartel mobster's premises. Initially, they search without success for his safe, until it dawns on them the house is the safe! Meantime, since the villain lives beyond the law, he cannot blow the whistle on them without running the risk of the authorities intervening. Greed enters the picture, and our heroes take too many duffels of loot. Until the 1970s, Hollywood maintained a strict censorship policy that crooks never delight in their ill-gotten gains. This policy was part of a larger rule Hollywood struggled to enforce: Crime must not pay! When the Clint Eastwood & Jeff Bridges heist caper "Thunderbolt & Lightfoot" (1974) came out, the studios gave these criminals greater flexibility, but not without the usual life and death consequences. In "Triple Frontier," we are rooting for our heroes to haul off millions when we realize they've completely lost their minds. Poor planning sabotages their heist. Indeed, they pull off the robbery, but pulling off the getaway is something else. Stallone and his "Expendables" cohorts would have gotten clean away, but these loose cannons must pay the piper. "Triple Frontier" takes a tragic turn around its 90-minute mark, and you have to ponder whether you want to shed a tear for this band of clowns-in-camouflage. Naturally, The character with the greatest amount to lose inevitably gets it. This kind of old-fashioned morality takes the joy out of what could have been an audacious adventure epic. During the getaway section, our heroes behave like trigger-happy amateurs. They find themselves against odds even more incredible than those of the cartel. Primarily, they find themselves at the mercy of the local population. The getaway occurs in sprawling, spectacular, mountainous scenery, with Hawaii standing in splendidly for Brazil. Our heroes exfiltrate in a wobbly helicopter with their ill-gotten gains dangling beneath it in a cargo net. Foolishly, they have loaded more than the chopper can accommodate and fly over the Andes Mountains. They disintegrate into their own worst enemy.

"Triple Frontier" gets off to a promising start as Chandor and Boal introduce the heroes and their particular predicament that has prompted them to commit a crime. The chief protagonist is Santiago 'Pope' Garcia (Oscar Isaac of "A Most Violent Year"), and he is a private military contractor who coordinates drug busts with the local authorities. Pope has a confidential informant, Yovanna (Adria Arjona of "Pacific Rim: Uprising"), and she knows the whereabouts of the local drug trafficker. She also knows that he has concealed millions in his walls. She provides Pope with everything he needs to know about this despicably murderous narco. Pope enlists four of his old service buddies and outlines a scenario that each of them could tote off duffels stuffed with multi-millions in cash. Eventually, Pope consults Tom 'Redfly' Davis (Ben Affleck of "The Town") and asks him to draft a combat plan. Reluctantly, Davis designs a scheme with a timetable. Pope persuades a pilot, Francisco 'Catfish' Morales (Pedro Pascal of "The Equalizer 2"), to fly them across the Andes to a ship on the coast. After Davis agrees to accompany them, William 'Ironhead' Miller (Charlie Hunnam of "King Arthur") signs on, and his little brother, MMA fighter Ben Miller (Garrett Hedlund of "TRON: Legacy"), joins them. Afterward, everything goes sideways. Greed overrides good sense, and one of the five takes a fatal bullet in the head. "Triple Frontier" never recovers from the tragic death of this character. In part, he brought it on himself. At this point, our heroes whine like knuckle-heads who bit off more than they could chew and are choking on their own greed. The performances are uniformly robust, but the filmmakers have given each actor little to work with to make their respective characters memorable, for example, like "The Magnificent Seven." If you're hoping for thrills and chills, "Triple Frontier" provides few.

FILM REVIEW OF ''LIVE BY NIGHT" (2017)

Two-time Oscar-winning writer & director Ben Affleck of “Good Will Hunting” and “Argo” has helmed an above-average, old-fashioned, Prohibition Era gangster epic “Live by Night” (***1/2 OUT OF ****) with himself as star that bears greater resemblance to Sergio Leone’s “Once Upon a Time in America” (1984) with Robert De Niro than Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Godfather” (1972) with Marlon Brando.  At the same time, Affleck has tampered with the violent, empire-building gangster film formula.  Mind you, “Live by Night” isn’t strictly traditional in its depiction of gangsters.  Instead of machine gun massacres in the urban canyons of a northern metropolis, “Live by Night” stages machine gun massacres at luxury resort hotels amid the scenic splendor of rural southern Florida.  Like the antihero that Affleck portrays with considerable style, charm, and restraint, “Live by Night” doesn’t abide by all gangster movie rules, particularly the tragic ending.  Nevertheless, crime still doesn’t pay for the protagonist.  As in most gangster movies, the mobsters count on avarice, treachery, blackmail, and betrayal to achieve their infamy.  Affleck’s armed and dangerous anti-hero, however, displays neither the aggressive pugnacity of Edward G. Robinson in “Little Caesar” (1931) nor does he behave like James Cagney’s trigger-happy hoodlum in “The Public Enemy” (1931.)  Instead, he imitates Robert De Niro’s Jewish gangster David 'Noodles' Aaronson in the Leone masterpiece.  Affleck’s Irish-American hooligan Joe Coughlin knows when to say ‘no’ and abandon the business before his rivals riddle him with bullets to kingdom come.  My only complaint—and it constitutes more of a quibble—is the 2 hours plus running time. This chronicle about a self-proclaimed ‘outlaw’ who ascends from the ranks of blue-collar, unaffiliated thieves and emerges as the white-collar chieftain of a mob-supervised, multi-million-dollar enterprise doesn’t exactly lunge off the screen.  Affleck allows things to develop gradually and steeps the logistics of crime in atmosphere galore as well as memorable characters.  Strong villains make the best movies with their notorious skullduggery.  Faithfully adapting the second novel in Dennis Lahane’s Coughlin series, Affleck tangles with three unforgettable dastards. 

The son of an incorruptible Boston Police Deputy Superintendent, Joe Coughlin (Ben Affleck of “The Town”) refuses to accommodate his father, Thomas Coughlin (Brendan Gleeson of “Gangs of New York”), when it comes to being a law-abiding citizen.  Joe survived the devastating trench warfare of World War I in France as a U.S. Marine while men around him perished by the dozens on the battlefield.  He has come home to Boston with nothing but utter contempt for the politicians who sold out the troops at the international treaty negotiation.  Joe vows never to take orders again.  Things don’t pan out exactly as our hero had anticipated.  Initially, Joe and two masked accomplices knock over an illegal, high-stakes poker game with a paid-off insider, Emma Gould (Sienna Miller of “American Sniper”), who knows her way around Boston.  Eventually, one of Boston’s most notorious gangsters, Albert White (Robert Glenister of “Safe Conduct”), learns that Joe has been raiding his venues.  White insists that our protagonist join his gang and use his skills for something more appropriate to his talents.  Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the jealous White, Joe has been sneaking around behind White’s back with his mistress Emma.  Mafia crime boss Maso Pescatore (Remo Girone of “Angel with a Gun”) summons Joe and asks him to kill White.  Adamantly, Joe refuses to attach himself to the Italians.  Maso threatens to inform on Joe if he doesn’t eliminate White. 

Meantime, Joe plans a big bank robbery so Emma and he can flee to California with some capital. The robbery goes sideways.  Three policemen die trying to nab Joe and his accomplices.  Eventually, White catches up with Joe after Emma betrays him.  White brutally beats Joe up.  He is poised to finish him off when Thomas Coughlin rolls up with the Boston Police in tow.  Thomas arrests Joe, but he convinces a harsh judge prosecute his son on lesser charges since Joe’s accomplices killed the cops.  Furthermore, Thomas informs Joe that Emma died when her getaway car plunged into the river.  Joe sweats out forty months behind bars in the Charlestown State Prison.  After his release, Joe offers to work for the Pescatore family, and Maso dispatches him to Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, to handle their rum-running enterprise.  No sooner has Joe set up shop than the evil White dispatches not only his own henchmen but also hooded KKK gunmen to make life miserable for our hero.  Joe creates an enormously profitable operation for Maso.  Nevertheless, he doesn’t abandon his yearning to wreck vengeance on White for what he did not only to him but also Emma.

“Foxcatcher” production designer Jess Gonchor, “Tree of Life” costume designer Jacqueline West, and “Forrest Gump” set decorator Nancy Haigh has painstakingly recreated both the glory and the squalor of the Prohibition Era.  The gangsters attire themselves lavishly in posh suits with fedora-style hats, while their dames doll themselves up with equal magnificence.  The gangsters cruise around in vintage cars of the period, and their henchmen wield that indispensable weapon of the day: the .45-caliber, Thompson submachine gun with drum magazines rather than stick magazines.  Indeed, Affleck has preserved virtually all the elements of the classic gangster movie during the Depression about illegal rum-runners.  After fate cheats Joe with Emma’s sudden death, he gets involved romantically with a gorgeous Cuban lady, Graciela Suarez (Zoe Saldana of “Star Trek Beyond”), who participates in the business of selling illegal rum with her brother.  “Live by Night” doesn’t dwell only on the gangsters and their illicit business, but also in the lives of the supporting characters, particularly a young woman (Elle Fanning) who suffered from the adversity of heroin addiction and later becomes an evangelist to protest vice of any kind.  The cast is superb, and nobody gives a bad performance.  Despite its leisurely, slow-burn pace, “Live by Night” manages to present the exploits of gangsters in a setting and manner that few gangster movies have, especially with its lukewarm finale.