Hell or High Water

In a year when the quality of life in middle America small towns has come back into focus, "Hell or High Water" feels like an important film, perhaps more important than it might have been had it been released prior to 2016. But it's not just timeliness that makes this a good movie. There are strong performances and strong writing Taylor Sheridan, someone we should definitely be paying more attention.

The "Sicario" writer returns with another tale set near the U.S.-Mexico border, this one following two poor West Texas brothers, Tanner and Toby Howard, one an ex-con (Ben Foster) and the other a divorced father of two (Chris Pine), who start robbing banks for petty cash. Their objective is to make enough money to pay off the bank before it forecloses on their recently deceased mother's ranch, which she willed to her grandsons. The property also happens to be sitting on enough oil to guarantee the boys' future.

With the stolen amounts too small to warrant attention from the FBI, a nearly retired Texas Ranger named Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and his partner, Alberto (Gil Birmingham), are assigned to track down the robbers and the cat-and-mouse game begins.

The characters could be distilled to two outlaw anti-heroes and the ranger on their tail who is about to hang it all up, but Sheridan's script evolves beyond the archetypes and into complicated, ugly territory, which is exactly where he took 2015's "Sicario." Whereas most cops-and-robbers stories have clear good guys and bad guys, this one doesn't.

Foster's Tanner is the wild one who can take things too far and lacks a moral compass, but he's fiercely loyal and devoted to his brother. Pine's Toby seems good through and through, but he has a violent streak and their whole illegal scheme is his idea. Even Bridges' smart, shiny-badged old ranger has a slightly bigoted attitude that often expresses itself to his half-Mexican, half-Native American partner.

All this "gray" makes watching how "Hell or High Water" plays out all the more interesting. We find ourselves rooting for the brothers' success only to have Sheridan execute some jarring turns in the story. Suddenly the stakes get higher and more real, and director David Mackenzie wisely keeps his hands off it all, which actually adds to the shock factor. We never feel comfortable with the violence in the film because it never feels stylish and never becomes commonplace, and that makes the violence that does happen more effective.

There's also a social commentary at play beneath the main thrust of the narrative, which is what really makes Sheridan's work stand out. Race crops up at various points, sometimes subtly and other times less so. At one point, Tanner has a confrontation with a Comanche man at a casino that seems to digress from the story a bit, but it serves the purpose of highlighting differences and animosity between people, and the pervasive "otherness" that causes so many rifts in our society.

That's where the timely factor comes in. It's not just about how these brothers represent the millions of Americans whose small town way of life is going extinct and creating such desperation, it's about how we go after what we want at the expense of other people, and treat others like the enemy. These fears, these attitudes and this desperation is cancerous and, sadly, cyclical.

That's more than you'd expect from a movie about bank robbers, to be sure.

~Steven C

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Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine put on an acting clinic.

Bridges at 66 has enough swagger, 'tude and testosterone to be an action figure.

Pine, always reliable as a A-lister, takes his craft to a whole new level. He is as far from Captain Kirk as the earth is from the moon. Superb work. And unforgettable.

The script is to die for. Intelligent to a degree that makes you wonder aloud how the constant stream of B and C movies out of Hollywood ever get funded. Solid from the first line of dialog to the last.

West Texas is the unbilled co-star. You feel like you are there.

One of the best releases of the year.

((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

Look at Chris Pine trying to prove he's not just a pretty face doing these small films that show his range, and show how he can do accents, but seriously, Pine was totally in his element here.

Jeff bridges gave a great performance that matches his cowboy ethics in True Grit, playing a very old school Texas Ranger hunting down Pine and Ben Foster who play brothers robbing banks. A little in the Archie Bunker Territory when dealing with his Mexican, Native American partner, but all the way likable.

Ben Foster was fantastic as well,as the bad apple big brother looking for redemption. Very dynamic acting, by all three main actors.

The music really adds to the cool western feel, putting me in the cowboy mode. I thought it was interesting that they had one scene in the movie in which real life cowboys herding cattle appear, in a movie about the movie style cowboys, and it's some real cowboy stuff going on here.

It's very macho without turning off the indi crowd that would love this film. There's a scene in the movie when Jeff Daniels Character confronts one of the bank robbers and it was like Eastwood and Wayne back in the day, man. It just wraps up the whole vibe of the movie in one swoop. I feel like it's the type of movie everyone in Texas should love.

And it's very Texas (or rather what I expect from Texas): every dinner only sells streak, It's hard to be a armed bank robber because at least two people in the bank carry a gun. The film does use Texas as a perfect pocket for all American life with the bank robbers having a bigger agenda to save the land they own and secure a future for their family, screwing over the bank that's screwing them.

It has the same appeal of the Timber when it comes to today's Westerns, but it's setting in contemporary times but with that old fashion tone gives it an edge.

http://cinemagardens.com/

Hell or High Water (2016)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

Toby Howard (Chris Pine) and his ex-con brother Tanner (Ben Foster) rob three banks in one day with plans on hitting more the following day. Pretty soon Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and his partner are on their trail.

Director David Mackenzie's HELL OR HIGH WATER is a throwback to a previous era's Western where you've got good guys, bad guys and guys that are somewhere in between. A lot of praise was aimed at the film and it's easy to understand why because it's a very laid back picture that takes its time getting to why the brothers are doing the crime and it also takes its time in explaining why the Ranger is so interested in it.

What impressed me most about the film was the fact that it was so laid back. The quiet nature of the Texas small towns are certainly on display and I liked the fact that the director didn't mind keeping things at a slow burn leading up to the climax. I'm certainly not going to spoil the ending but it perfectly sums up everything that we had seen leading up to it. I can see how some might be disappointed that this film wasn't louder and feature stronger stuff but the atmosphere and setting were perfectly handled.

Another major plus are obviously the performances but would you expect anything less from the three leads? Pine is certainly coming into his own and delivering one fine performance after another. His character is the one that is most haunted by his actions and I really liked the depth that Pine brought to the role. Bridges, who picked up an Oscar-nomination, is also quite good playing the Ranger who (no shock) is about to retire. For my money it was Foster who stole the film playing the more psychotic brother. I really thought the actor did a fantastic job at playing this crazy person who also had a great love for his younger brother.

The cinematography, the editing and all the other technical aspects are excellent. I did have a few problems with the picture including some of the scenes that had songs playing over them. The country music selections were fine songs but at times I thought they weren't needed in a few of the scenes. Still, HELL OR HIGH WATER is a current day Western and a darn good one at that.

In a summer (or should that be year or decade) of vapid sequels, remakes, and overblown superhero catastrophes, who would have expected an entertaining, intelligent, well-crafted, suspenseful, character- driven, modern-day western with a brain. Riding on Taylor Sheridan's razor-sharp script and David Mackenzie's nuanced direction, Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, and (especially) Ben Foster (along with everyone else who appears on the screen) inhabit this film as wryly humorous, heartfelt, vicious, painfully tragic, and realistic members of a society reaping the fruits it has tragically sown. Best film so far this year.