By Danny Peary
Set in a crime-wracked Atlanta, where the Russian mob rules the roost, and the Mexican and African-American gangs do their bidding, Triple 9 – the latest uncompromising work from Australian director, John Hillcoat (The Proposition, Lawless, The Road) – applies much of its focus to the compromised cops that work with them and against them. Dark, murky, violent, and morally scattershot, the closest character that the film has to an actual hero is Casey Affleck’s deeply flawed cop, Chris Allen. “He’s definitely the least corrupt of all of them, but I don’t know if I’d exactly call him a white knight,” the actor tells FilmInk on the film’s set. “John Hillcoat has talked about him by using terms like, ‘He’s got a steadfast moral code, he’s uncomplicated, and solid to the core.’ He’s talked a lot about things like that. Chris Allen is meant to be a surprisingly gritty, moral person. He’s our hope.”
Playing a cop in the midst of an undeclared urban battlefield is nothing new for Casey Affleck, who has plenty of experience on the cinematic wild side, having previously essayed private investigators (Gone Baby Gone), the killer of a western legend (The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford), an outlaw on the run (Ain’t Them Bodies Saints), and a demented murderer (The Killer Inside Me). “There must be some parts where I’ve played educated characters, but I can’t think of them,” laughs Affleck, who also features in this week’s release, The Finest Hours, as a brave seaman caught in a ferocious storm. “There’s a lot of crime in the movies that I do. My kids don’t get to see a lot of these movies, and they always want to know why I can’t do something that they can see. But sometimes the parts pick you, to be perfectly honest, and you take what is offered. There are certain things that are available to you, and you choose the one that’s of the highest quality, or that has a group of people involved that you like. Sometimes I choose projects just because I want to work with the director. I realise that it’s often dark material, but it might be with a group of talented people that I can learn something from, so I end up on these jobs. It takes a great amount of effort and luck to change the way that people perceive you. They’re not sending me the Tom Hanks parts. They’re sending him a certain kind of role because he started off as a certain kind of actor. And I guess that they think of me with police officers and veterans and private investigators.”
As most actors do when playing cops, Affleck tapped into a police agency, and was offered a slot in the backseat while two officers drove around city neighbourhoods and tackled the criminal element first hand. “In Atlanta, I was with the gang unit,” the actor explains. “It’s a group of twelve people who are trying to deal with almost 10,000 gang members. They make estimates, but they don’t really know how many there are out there. The gang unit is understaffed, and they don’t have the resources that they need. I went out on a ride-along, and they had me taking pictures and working the GPS! The guy’s going, ‘Which way should I go, left or right?’ And I go, ‘I don’t know! I’m an actor! I’m just observing!’ So it just goes to show you what a hard job they have if they’re letting actors contribute in any way. It means that they need a lot more help.”
Though now firmly established as a cop thriller with an intense, violent edge, the stylistic placement of Triple 9 was a little less fixed during the shoot. When queried about the film’s tone, Affleck metaphorically threw his hands up in the air. “Oh, I have no idea,” the actor laughs. “You’ll have to ask John. That’s the kind of thing sometimes that I’ll fish around for, but I’m always wrong anyway. If I start thinking, ‘Oh, this is a very naturalistic thriller’ or something else, it’ll end up being The Remains Of The Day! It’s so hard to put a pin in it, and know how things are going to end up. I’ve done a bunch of movies with Gus Van Sant, and I would always ask, ‘What is this movie about? What do you think people will say or feel when they come out of the movie? What does this mean in this scene? Why am I doing this and not something else?’ And he would never answer! One time, I was trying my best to figure it out, and I said, ‘So, Gus, this is a scene about a man stuck on a rock, who can’t get down. There’s obviously symbolism here. What is the metaphor? You have to tell me!’ And he just said, ‘Oh, let’s just let the metaphors find themselves.’ So that was the straw that broke the camel’s back, and I just started saying, ‘I’m going to play my part, and I’m going to try to bring a certain level of authenticity to the scenes. I’m going to try to understand where my character is coming from and what he wants and what he’s doing, and not try to say, ‘This movie is going to feel like this, or be about this.’”
Triple 9 is released in cinemas on March 3. The Finest Hours is released in cinemas on March 3.
