Jesse Hassenger

<p>Typically, Netflixs (so far limited) forays into theatrical releases serve primarily to signal which of their movies they consider major awards contenders (or which of their filmmakers simply insist on some manner of theatrical availability). In that respect, their new movie Triple Frontier is neither here nor there. Its receiving a limited and exclusive theatrical release starting today, for one week before it arrives on Netflix on March 13th. Its not an awards play, nor is it a low-budget quickie. Its a serious but not especially rigorous dramatic thriller aimed at adults, with a bunch of familiar faces, including a couple of real movie stars-exactly the kind of movie big studios used to make with a lot more frequency. In fact, Netflix took over the film from Paramount after several false starts that cycled through a variety of different stars.</p>

<p>The stars this version lands on are Ben Affleck and Oscar Isaac, playing two members of a tight-knit group-former Special Forces operatives who have scattered after the end of their military careers. Santiago (Isaac) arranges a reunion when, through a contract job in South America, he discovers that the group could assassinate a powerful drug lord and make off with a chunk of his massive fortune. He frames it for his buddies as a mission where they perform a net good, but finally get paid for it; its not an ineffective pitch, especially given that we first see Tom (Affleck) unsuccessfully attempting to sell a crummy condo, civilian life not exactly agreeing with him. Ben (Garrett Hedlund) makes a living as a low-rent ultimate fighter, while his brother William (Charlie Hunnam) goes around giving do-it-for-your-country pep talks to young military recruits. Francisco (Pedro Pascal) has a hard time finding work after a drug arrest. Though some of the group is reluctant to pick their guns back up and head into the jungle, they all recognize that a paycheck gig may be long overdue. </p>

<p>The screenplay, by Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty) and director J.C. Chandor (All Is Lost; A Most Violent Year) foregrounds financial motivation, but in a manful, relatively uncomplicated way. Triple Frontier isnt exactly a deep dive, psychologically, and though it splices the men-on-a-mission military thriller with the mechanics of a heist movie, its not as adventurous in its genre riffing as, say, Steve McQueens Widows, from last fall. </p>

<p>The five lead actors have an easy enough chemistry-its about time someone cast wandering It Boys Hedlund and Hunnam as brothers!-but few of the characterizations have much detail. Theres the Honorable Soldier, the Wilder Soldier, the Pragmatic Soldier and, in the movies most vivid portraiture, Affleck as the Divorced Dad Soldier. Tom has evidently tried harder than any of the others at re-assimilating into normal civilian life, and Chandor gives his failures (living in his exs garage, sipping beer while driving his teenage daughter around, being a terrible realtor) more screen time to sting and linger. Affleck, often strongest in character-actor mode, gives a sturdy, low-vanity performance.</p>

<p>Ultimately, Toms story just adds a few grace notes to the movies exposition. Most of Triple Frontier is dedicated to the heist and its aftermath, giving Chandor a chance to indulge his genre skills. Both All Is Lost and A Most Violent Year had genre elements, and might have even been more convincing as methodically paced thrillers than as drama. Triple Frontier moves more quickly, but it has plenty of the deep-black shadows that Chandor favored in Violent Year. The few who see it on a big screen will get their moneys worth, visually speaking. When the team sneaks into the drug dealers jungle mansion, the tension is impressively sustained, even in moments that arent calibrated for maximum suspense. </p>

<p>In a lot of heist movies, that tension derives from whether the criminals will be able to get away with their thievery, and improvise their way out of any unanticipated tight corners. Triple Frontier doesnt bathe in gloom, but Chandor creates enough unease that the suspense comes more from how and when things will go wrong, not whether or not theyll go right. In its final stretch, the movie turns into more of a survival story with touches of The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Its compelling, and more than a little old-fashioned, which is sometimes a relief; these days, movies like Triple Frontier are more often made by Peter Berg starring Mark Wahlberg (who was attached to this one at one point), and manage to be flashier, nastier, and more solemnly patriotic all at once. </p>

<p>Theres some stoicism in Triple Frontier, too; its not exactly a romp, nor is it particularly thought-provoking beyond its observation that veterans are often left in precarious and unfair financial situations. As it turns out, Netflix has swooped in and rescued a more retro form of casual couch-watching: A movie that, if not for its relatively current cast, could have manifested directly onto TNT on a Sunday afternoon sometime in 2002.</p>

Our Review of Netflix's 'Triple Frontier'

The debate over Netflix Original Movies and their relationship to the traditional theatrical experience is heating up again, this time over filmmaker <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/steven-spielberg-wants-netflix-barred-from-oscars-contention/" id="e1fb9911-9b64-3b03-acd1-a4c99de13f47">  Steven Spielbergs suggestion </a> that Netflix movies fulfill certain theatrical-release qualifications in order to be eligible for Academy Awards. Though the debate is worth having-and obviously affect...

Triple Frontier Review: Netflix's New Movie Is Better Than the Average Netflix Action Movie

<p>Stella (Richardson) is the organized type, obvious from her instructional YouTube videos, self-administered medication, and neatly kept hospital room-though the movie insists on having her explain that she has control issues anyway. Will (Sprouse), who has a more severe bacterial strain that eliminates him from the possibility of a lung transplant (something that can buy cystic fibrosis patients an extra five years or so), is more fatalistic and rebellious, an artist who regards Stellas diligence with skepticism. Wills condition also means that any physical proximity to Stella is a major risk for her; theyre advised to stay at least six feet apart at all times (why Five Feet Apart, then? Dont worry, theres eventually an explanation).</p>

<p>When Stella and Will meet-at the hospital, naturally; its a little odd that they havent met before-theyre immediately at odds, then eventually love each other. The movie cant quite make either of these plot turns convincing, despite the best efforts of Richardson and Sprouse (especially Richardson; Sprouse is leaning heavily on his Riverdale persona, which involves saying extremely obvious things with the smug confidence of a visionary iconoclast). Even though theyre a study in opposites-attract contrasts, Stella and Will hit all the major romantic relationship beats mostly because, well, Five Feet Apart requires them to. Wills spontaneity, Stellas sense of humor, and both characters rapport with Stellas best friend, fellow CF patient Poe (Moises Arias) all feel utterly canned. Like Sprouse, director Justin Baldoni is a regular on The CW (hes an actor on Jane on the Virgin), and he often keeps the rhythm of a middling teen show, affecting a kind of faux-self-awareness.</p>

<p>There are better, more affecting moments. Theres something kind of rueful and bittersweet about the way Stella and Will are forced to conduct their relationship-first as reluctant sorta-allies, then (very briefly) as friends, then (to no ones surprise) romantic partners-in a largely mediated context. Theyre hospital neighbors, but its more expedient for them to text, IM, and video-chat with each other-which in some ways makes them maybe not so different than teenagers living a chunk of their lives on Instagram. Theres at least one well-flowing montage of their virtual courtship-though as with many sequences, the movie drowns it out with insistent soundtrack cues.</p>

<p>That maudlin, cranked-up soundtrack also points to the ways that Five Feet Apart goes beyond a mere CW weepie. Though both the emotional labor and the physical logistics of two kids with cystic fibrosis make the movie more compelling than your average Nicholas Sparks picture, the movie goes overboard in its final half-hour, working the melodrama into a rich lather, then wringing cheap suspense out of its characters health. This is supposed to portray the fragility of their lives and the weight of their decisions, but it comes across as, frankly, kind of exploitative. (Imagine a teen romance where a cancer patient weakened from treatment must traverse a high wire for overelaborate yet kind of pointless reasons; thats what the climax of Five Feet Apart is like.) Still, for some readers and viewers, the melodrama is the point. Fans of the book might like to know: How does the movies ending differ from the original text? </p>

<p><strong> (This is SEMI-SPOILER territory here; I wont reveal the specifics of either ending, but if you want to go in completely clean, you should turn back now.) </strong></p>

<p>The answer is that the movies ending is pretty much the same as the books, for good reason: The movie is not really an adaptation of the book. The book is an adaptation of the screenplay for Five Feet Apart, which writers Tobias Iaconis and Mikki Daughtry sold in 2017. Author Rachel Lippincott adapted the script to a book that was published in 2018, and probably would have been in progress around when the movie was in production. Essentially, the book exists to promote the film, which probably isnt a bad way to drum up some interest in a mid-to-low budget studio release in a theatrical landscape dominated by big-ticket franchises. </p>

<p>The finished film does depart from the book by eliminating what amounts to a narrative epilogue involving a reunion between some of the characters. The movie ends earlier, but its ending is included in the book version. Its one of the films instances of restraint. </p>

Here's How Five Feet Apart Lets Down Its Audience

Decades ago, the stars of Five Feet Apart would be 25 or 30, and the movie would be categorized as a weepie. But in a post-Fault in Our Stars world, its easy to flag Five Feet Apart as a YA romance, even if its female lead, Haley Lu Richardson, is 24, and its male lead, Cole Sprouse, is a wizened 26. The actors revert to their characters approximate ages in Columbus and Riverdale, respectively, to play teenagers who should be getting ready to graduate high school-if not for their ongoing batt...

Five Feet Apart Doesn't Measure Up to Other Teen Romances

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<p>But this new movie is still based on fact: Its about Frank Hamer and Maney Gault, real-life Texas Rangers who were hired to apprehend (really, track and kill) the Depression-era celebrity bank-robbers Bonnie Parker and Clyde Darrow. Basically, its the law-enforcement side of the classic 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, with the famous outlaws observed from a stoic distance. Here, we attempt to answer all your pressing questions. </p>

<p>Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson play Hamer and Gault, respectively. They spend a lot of time in a car together, though it saddens us to report that the resemblance to True Detective is mostly superficial. Harrelson, by virtue of his delightful, increasingly masticating persona, has a little more fun with his role; Costner is playing things super-straight, grimacing and glowering at the mindless throng who idolize Bonnie and Clyde for sticking it to the man (even though, as Costners character endlessly points out to plenty of nave young dummies desperate for the guidance of a good stern lecture, they are also heedless murderers). </p>

<h1>  But who plays Bonnie and Clyde?  </h1>

<p>Emily Brobst and Edward Bossert, who are both professional stunt performers. This isnt an action thriller, per se, but Bonnie and Clyde have a ghostlike presence; their faces are barely glimpsed until the second half, and even then, still only briefly. Its hard to tell if this is intended to nod at the way their reputation preceded them toward the end of their bank-robbing career, or if the movie is trying to make them seem scarier, but only winds up making them seem more mythological.</p>

<p>The director is John Lee Hancock. Hancock started out as a screenwriter, and wrote a couple of Clint Eastwoods 90s movies, including A Perfect World, starring Kevin Costner (its one of Costners best performances, in fact). As a director, Hancock briefly served as sort of a Disney version of Eastwood, sharing Eastwoods late-career interest in different bits of Americana and history. For Disney, he made the costly boondoggle The Alamoand, more successfully, Saving Mr. Banks, a behind-the-scenes look at Mary Poppins and Walt Disney himself. Outside of Disney, he directed the risible Oscar nominee The Blind Side, and the thornier, more interesting McDonalds origin story The Founder. The Highwaymen fits right into his wheelhouse, for better and for worse.</p>

<p>Of course! It advertises something a bit punchier and snappier than what this movie really is, but have at it:</p>

<p>Technically speaking, The Highwaymen is out! As they sometimes do with their higher-profile releases, Netflix gave this movie a brief theatrical run starting on March 15th, two weeks ahead of its debut on the streaming service. These releases are rarely especially wide, not least because most of the major theater chains refuse to show movies without at least a 90-day window (that is, 90 days between the movies theatrical debut and its in-home release). In Manhattan, for example, one of the biggest moviegoing cities in the United States, The Highwaymen is playing on exactly one screen. </p>

<p>A bit workmanlike, to be honest. Its hard to get around the fact that, in this telling, Hamer and Gauilt simply arent as interesting as the Bonnie and Clyde played by Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in the 1967 film. Its not a fair comparison, but its one the movie very much invites by its very existence. As a 132-minute procedural, the movie feels like a trudge; the tracking work on display is methodical and, again, heavy on stern mini-lectures about how dangerous it is to romanticize these outlaws. </p>

<p>Though the movie has a little weary, Eastwoodian fun with the lead characters advanced age-Costners Hamer isnt cut out for even a relatively low-stakes foot pursuit, and Harrelsons Gault has to keep stopping to urinate-it ultimately doesnt say much about it except that these old-timers can still get the job done. Theres none of the ambiguity of Hancocks The Founder (even in that film, he didnt always feel comfortable with it). Costner found some late-career success with a History Channel miniseries; The Highwaymen sometimes feels like one of those, in condensed but still not exactly concise form.</p>

Everything We Know About Netflix's The Highwaymen

The first thing you need to know about the Netflix original film The Highwaymen is that its not a biopic of the country supergroup that featured Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, and Kris Kristofferson (though its a little surprising that one of those hasnt happened yet for them, right?), or a biopic of the unrelated folk music act from the 1960s.

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