What I’m watching: Affleck and Issac plan Colombian drug heist in ‘Triple Frontier’

Date: 3/20/2019

What I’m watching: a new action film on Netflix.

“Triple Frontier”

While I was watching this new action feature on Netflix, I realized that some of the themes and tone of the film, especially in the final half, seemed vaguely familiar.

Then it hit me: the film reminded me of the classic movie “The Treasure of Sierra Madre.”

To refresh your memory, the older film deals with issues of desperate men trying to find riches in the wilderness, and once they do, what happens to them. The 1948 film was set in the Mexico desert where three men discover gold.

The current film is set in Columbia and the protagonists are attempting to rob a drug lord whose home is located deep in the jungle of millions of dollars.

The core of each film is how the men handle the adversity that comes with their attempts to become rich.

In “Triple Frontier,” Oscar Isaac plays Santiago Garcia, a former Special Forces operative now working as a consultant to the police in Columbia. He has developed a plan that would require recruiting the friends who served with him.  He has learned of an elusive drug kingpin who stores his money in his home in the jungle.

During a trip back to the United States, Garcia is successful in getting two brothers (played by Charlie Hunnam and Garrett Hedlund), a pilot (Pedro Pascal) and the strategist Davis (Ben Affleck) to join him.

The first half of the film is a caper movie: we see the planning and execution of the robbery. The second half is when all of their plans start failing due largely to greed.

The film is a handsome production with some spectacular scenes when the group attempts to get over the Andes with the loot.

Like “Treasure,” “Triple Frontier” emphasizes these are men who are on the edges of society and who have lived very hard. Affleck’s character is especially affecting: he is now trying to earn a living selling real estate and supporting two households. The lure to go back to his previous life is as repulsive to him as it is attractive.

In many ways this conflict within the Affleck character provides the center of the film.  

Director J.C. Chandor handles the first half of the film like a procedural story – we see our group of heroes preparing for what is supposed to a well-planned robbery. The second half, when things start going wrong, has more emotional fireworks.

The film was released in select theaters earlier this month and then made its streaming release on March 13. It certainly has a cast, the polish and the production values of a theatrical release and I would have been very curious to see how well the film would have been received if it had been released widely in theaters.

As it stands, “Triple Frontier” is a solidly made action film with a somewhat predictable second half and an oddly understated ending. It’s not a bad way to spend an evening.