Verdict: In The Jungle (with half a good) Book
Who doesn't love a good heist movie? Triple Frontier sees an all-star cast of Special Forces operatives (Ben Affleck, Oscar Isaac, Charlie Hunnam, Garrett Hedlund and Pedro Pascal) reunite to plan a heist in a sparsely populated multi-border zone of South America. Loved the set up, the fast pace, the planning, and the heist. Oh man, the heist. In a secluded estate deep in the jungle, on a time-clock, in the rain...get the money, kill the kingpin and get out before the family gets home from church. The tension and build up to all of this was simply terrific...and then it seemed the writers decided to consult the screenplay and movie plot handbook 101 as the predictable blueprint for the rest of the movie. I even found myself bumping the 10-second fast forward button repeatedly just to get to the end. Not since Dead Poets Society have I been so entertained by the first half of a movie and so utterly bored by the second. I know that's blasphemy, but to this day Dead Poet's is the only movie I've ever left early. Luckily for me this time, I had a remote control.
