There’s a blue-chip cast running the gamut from A (Casey Affleck) to W (Kate Winslet) and terrific action sequences in “Triple 9’’ — but in the end, this relentlessly nihilistic crime-caper thriller adds up to less than the sum of its impressive parts.
The setting is Atlanta, where Michael (Chiwetel Ejiofor of “12 Years a Slave’’) is first seen leading a squad of dirty cops with special forces experience in a daring daytime bank robbery.
I’ve never been a fan of Australian director John Hillcoat, a specialist in artily pretentious action flicks (“Lawless,’’ “The Road’’), but the flashily staged opening reel and several other scenes grabbed me more than anything he’s done in the past.
Michael and his mates — played by such formidable character actors as Anthony Mackie, Norman Reedus and Clifton Collins Jr. — are planning to retire with the proceeds of this heist, which was commissioned by the Russian mob.
But their tough-as-nails employer, Irina (an enjoyably scenery-chewing Winslet), refuses to pay unless they also break into a heavily secured Department of Homeland Security facility as part of a convoluted plan to free Irina’s husband from a Russian prison.
There’s only one way to pull off an impossible job like that, Michael decides — create a diversion with a “Triple 9,’’ an officer-down radio call to keep virtually the entire Atlanta police department occupied. This will require their killing Chris (Affleck, superb), a straight-arrow task force cop investigating the robbery who is first seen pushing around Mexican thugs whom Hillcoat treats as local color.
Anybody who’s ever seen a heist movie knows that not everything will go according to plan. One major complication is Chris’ cynical, garrulous and eccentric police-sergeant uncle, Jeffrey — played by Woody Harrelson in a performance that comes perilously close to self-parody.
Matt Cook’s script comes equipped with several subplots, including Irina using Michael’s young son — with her sister, Elena (Gal Gadot, who will be playing Wonder Woman opposite Affleck’s brother, Ben, next month) — to force him to keep going when things start unraveling.
By this point, it’s clear the makers of the testosterone-drenched “Triple 9’’ have backed themselves into plot twists that cannot be satisfyingly resolved. But it certainly has its moments, even if some of them are borrowed from better works, including Ben Affleck’s “The Town’’ and HBO’s “The Wire.’’