TRIPLE FRONTIER (2019)

In TRIPLE FRONTIER (2019), a group of retired American soldiers reunite for a heist in South America that will put their warfighting skills, friendship, and moral compasses to the extreme test. I liked it a lot more than I thought I would. Not everything worked for me, but I liked the overall result and loved the effort.

Santiago “Pope” Garcia works as an adviser for a government in South America that is fighting the drug cartels. He learns that a kingpin is keeping all his cash at a remote house in the jungle that he turned into a fortress. Tired of mercenary work, Pope hatches a plan to steal the money for himself, but he’ll need help. So he goes home to get the gang back together in typical heist movie fashion. Only, in this case, when the gang was together, they fought in the War on Terror and racked up a haunting body count.

Director J.C. Chandor is known for making morally gray movies, and TRIPLE FRONTIER is no exception. I went into this expecting a typical heist movie with an American soldier twist and got a lot more. Though it doesn’t explore any big issues related to the War on Terror or War on Drugs, the ones closer to home are articulated pretty well. These are men who served their country with distinction, only to be left with little or nothing at the end of it except moral injury and the constant struggle to get by. This time, they are doing it for themselves, but to succeed, they may have to compromise the one thing a soldier truly owns, which is their story and sense of honor.

From Oscar Isaac as Pope to Ben Affleck and Pedro Pascal, the cast is terrific. The action is surprisingly realistic; the soldiers are supremely badass, but they look like they are earning it. The setting is beautiful and frightening in its brutality. The harrowing trek through the jungle to escape is fraught with ethical dilemmas and physical challenge.

On the downside, the characters are not supremely well drawn, which creates a weird situation in that since this isn’t just another mindless heist movie, we expect much deeper characters. I didn’t hold the movie to a higher standard, but I have to agree that when the conflict shifts to interpersonal conflict, it doesn’t feel organic nor does it have any real impact. This is a plot-driven movie, that’s just how it is. Though I didn’t particularly care if most of them made it or not.

In all, I really liked it. A total worthwhile watch and a pleasant surprise to discover as I’d never heard of it. I was particularly interested to watch it as–sorry for a small plug here–I’d written QRF, a novel in a similar vein where a group of retired soldiers comes together to do a “heist,” only their heist is to rescue a kidnapped comrade in Mosul during the Iraqi civil war of 2016. If you like TRIPLE FRONTIER, you might check it out.