Triple Frontier

by Philip Price

Director: J.C. Chandor
Starring: Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac & Charlie Hunnam 
Rated: R
Runtime: 2 hours & 5 Minutes

While watching I kept going back and forth in my head between who it was that directed this: J.C. Chandor or DJ Caruso?
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No, wait! It would have to be Gavin O'Connor, right? That would make more sense given he directed Ben Affleck in “The Accountant” and if this thing would have been released in theaters it would have made bank just like that one ($155 million worldwide on a $44 million budget).

No? This is Chandor's movie? The guy who made stylish thinkers like “Margin Call,” “All is Lost” and “A Most Violent Year”? That guy made a major action picture for Netflix and not the guy who made “Disturbia,” “Eagle Eye,” “I Am Number Four” and “xXx: The Return of Xander Cage”? Maybe I misjudged you, Netflix. Maybe I had the wrong pre-conceived notions about you, “Triple Frontier.”

Like all of Chandor's past work, “Triple Frontier” has style for days - enough style to make me mad at the big, local theater chains for not allowing me the opportunity to see this on the big screen - but what is most surprising about the film is just how much style Chandor is able to maintain even as he rides into the nitty-gritty of some seriously dirty action sequences; they're grimy yet exquisite all at the same time.

Furthermore, as much as “Triple Frontier” might make itself out to be a military/heist flick it quickly becomes apparent that for all the action and palpable tension this canvas will beautifully serve to illustrate the screenplay from frequent Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) collaborator Mark Boal quickly makes it evident this is as much about the themes of greed, dignity and the literal logistical lengths these men go to when priority is placed on things we've assigned value rather than those things that have actual value in our lives.