Triple Frontier

Netflix pulls off a macho flick that switches genres from jungle heist, steamy relationship drama and survival adventure, and surprisingly it works. The cast is awesome and everyone involved is great: Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal and the unknown Garrett Hedlund, definitely an admirable lineup for Netflix. There's not that much action, but when it does come it's pleasantly bloody and clear. The suspense works, the locations are beautiful, there's one unexpected twist and an unexpected denouement at the end. I had a great time and it's a bit of a shame that we couldn’t see this film in the cinema. Netflix is headed in the right direction and I'm rooting for them. 80% (14/03/2019)

Triple Frontier is a solid action flick with enough space for the characters (ironically, however, the way Affleck’s character behaves in the second part seemed unreasonably cold to me due either to poor directing or the cutting of some scenes). The movie boasts a great cast; from the beginning, it has great genre movie potential that it more than lives up to. Original ideas, exquisitely staged locations and an attractive insider’s view on how such mercenary enterprises might be conceived. (05/05/2019)

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. (17/03/2019)

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. (20/03/2019)

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. (31/03/2019)