What does it really mean to be a Netflix movie? Surely from within the company the answer would be nothing in particular, that there is room for populist shows and top-level auteur cinema. It certainly seems like they treat everything as the same thing, from marketing to certain visual aspects perfectly calibrated to look good on your mobile, which more than homogeneity leaves a feeling of carelessness.
Still, there’s something positive about Netflix’s bet on cinema, and we hope it doesn’t get lost in their next rethinking of identity as they tighten their belts: mid-budget adult cinema. Possibly they are the only study that continues to consistently bet on itand thanks to this we have films as great as ‘Triple Frontier’, an unexpected champion of what is being lost in the current ecosystem.
skirting the risk
It could be argued that this is nothing more than an action thriller with nothing outstanding. But the thing is, you don’t need it. ‘Triple Frontier’ is the kind of old commercial cinema that brings together movie stars or attempts at it, efficiently fulfills each of the things that are proposed and it is shot with a craftsman’s own taste. JC Chandor never loses sight of the type of film he’s making.
Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund and Pedro Pascal are the extraction team that has been tasked with the dangerous mission of infiltrating the border area between Brazil, Peru and Colombia to rob a powerful drug dealer. They have no choice but to do it, they are military veterans and former Special Forces operatives in a state of financial need, and this clandestine job may be their way out of the financial hole.
Taking this film directly from writer Mark Boal after previously trying to get the project off the ground with Kathryn Bigelow, Chandor delivers a very resolute and very clear film throughout. From establishing very soon and in a very clear way what is at stake to the quick presentation of some actors to whom it leaves show off like an old time show.
‘Triple frontier’: old-school efficiency
The action is one of the strengths, with sequences shot with aplomb and efficiency, never leaving loose ends or allowing the viewer to get lost with what is happening. The tension that explodes in moments of pure thriller is simple, but it works enormously. Whether in more urgent moments, such as the helicopter sequences, or in something as austere as skirting a mountain with a donkey, the film knows how to capture your attention.
It’s not a 200 million blockbuster that doesn’t look like it has it, nor is it Martin Scorsese, it’s something else with its own value and enough honesty not to pretend to be something else. Good cinema knows how to fulfill its own intentions, and ‘Triple Frontier’ complies when it comes to cover all the ambitions of a pollavieja thriller. Its fast-paced action and its good use of these actors puts it above several original productions that are more pompous but much less fun to watch.