A crew of corrupt Atlanta police officers and former Navy SEALs plans a bank robbery with a specific goal: retrieving the contents of a safe deposit box. To make the operation work, they need the entire police force drawn to another location, and they plan to trigger an "officer down" call, the signal that a fellow officer has been hurt. The chosen victim is a rookie cop whom one of them has befriended. Tensions rise as the job approaches and loyalties begin to fray, while a detective on the case closes in on the truth.

How it was made

The project began in 2010, when John Hillcoat became attached to Matt Cook's crime drama script, which Steve Golin was set to produce. Hillcoat confirmed his direction in 2012, and the cast went through many changes. Shia LaBeouf, Charlie Hunnam, and Cate Blanchett or Christoph Waltz were attached at different stages, but they either left or never joined, and the final cast included Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet, Woody Harrelson, and Gal Gadot, among others. Nick Cave was announced as composer but left the project, and Atticus Ross took over the score. Open Road Films acquired US distribution rights in 2014. Principal photography began in May 2014 in Atlanta, with locations in Buckhead, Decatur, and Centennial Olympic Park, and included scenes shot with real paramedics and police officers.

Reception and legacy

The film received mixed reviews from critics. It was released in the United States in February 2016 and grossed about 25 million dollars against a production budget of 20 million. Critics focused on the ensemble cast, Hillcoat's direction, and the tension of its action sequences, though some faulted its crowded plot and twists. It is not regarded as a landmark of the genre, but it stands as an example of urban heist and crime cinema of its period, with an unusually large ensemble cast for this type of film.

Stills

Trailer

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Trivia

A shifting cast

Shia LaBeouf and Charlie Hunnam were both attached early on but left the project before filming.

A scheduling challenge

Hillcoat described the shoot as a challenge because of the difficulty of arranging the schedules of eight main characters.

More films by John Hillcoat

The Road2009

Lawless2012

The Proposition2005

Original Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.