Triple Frontier (2019)

Movie Name/Year: Triple Frontier (2019)

Tag Line: From the Director of A Most Violent Year and Producer of Wonder Woman and The Dark Knight Trilogy

Production Company: Netflix, Atlas Entertainment

Producers:  Madison Ainley, Robert Amidon, Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Andrés Calderón, Neal Dodson, Alex Gartner, Anna Gerb, Thomas Hayslip, Andy Horwitz, Helen Medrano, Daniel Messier, Juliano Moreno, Charles Roven, John Wildermuth

Director: J.C. Chandor

Writers: Mark Boal, J.C. Chandor

Actors: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund, Pedro Pascal, Adria Arjona, Sheila Vand, Rey Gallegos

Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime

Rated: R

Length: 125 minutes

IMDb Blurb: Five former Special Forces operatives reunite to plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. For the first time in their prestigious careers these unsung heroes undertake this dangerous mission for self instead of country. But when events take an unexpected turn and threaten to spiral out of control, their skills, their loyalties and their morals are pushed to a breaking point in an epic battle for survival.

Cat’s Point of View:

After wrapping up my second watch-through of this movie, I can tell you my opinion hasn’t changed since my first. It was a solid offering for the military-ish drama genre. There were actually some feels. I’d have to say that it went a bit darker into morality territory than I expected it to – but I think that ultimately helps it stand out in the crowd of its cinematic peers.

I placed this film as my #9 on my Top 20 list for this March. In my blurb I will admit that I gushed a bit about my desire to view the movie having less to do with the action genre itself and more about the dream-team of the cast. I’ll spare you a rehash here, I promise. Because of this, though, I knew I’d be at least a little biased on the outset while watching this. The second watch-through let me take a step back from my giddy self and get a more objective assessment of the overall production.

There’s a little bit that, perhaps, requires slightly more suspension of disbelief – but overall I didn’t feel like it was taking place in some fantasy-land. I don’t feel entirely like a swooning fangirl with my overall take-away. (Maybe a little.) I did have some confusion as to how the name of the movie fit with what was going on. For a hot second, I chalked it up to some nebulous metaphor or something. Fortunately, with a little light investigating, I discovered that the ‘Triple Frontier’ that is the film’s namesake is the geographical area in South America where the story primarily takes place.

Can we talk about the soundtrack for a moment? The music department on this production was seriously on the ball and I have to give them some serious credit here. The music was well paired with events in the story. Honestly, the moment the film began to Metallica’s “For Whom the Bell Tolls,” it really set the tone spectacularly for what was to come. I found it also fitting that the movie was end-capped by “Orion,” which is also a Metallica number. It’s not all metal through the whole feature. There’s some Fleetwood Mac and Bob Dylan in there as well.

I’d have no trouble recommending this Netflix original. I’m certainly glad it made its way out of its almost decade-long development hell and onto our screens. 

Rotten Tomatoes Critic Score – 71%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience Score – 59%
Metascore – 61/100
Metacritic User Score – 6.8/10
IMDB Score – 6.5/10

Trust the Dice: Cat’s Rating – 3.5/5

Movie Trailer: