Directed by: David Mackenzie
Written by: Taylor Sheridan
Cast: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham
Swift shot: A modern day Frank and Jesse James tale with a painful reminder that the bankers always find a way to win. Hell or High Water simmers with a stunning showdown between good and evil in the Texas plains.
Toby Howard (Pine) is a desperate man, he needs tens of thousands of dollars by Friday . . . come hell or high water. His younger brother Tanner (Foster) is a real criminal. He’s done ten years in prison and as each scene passes, and as they get closer to their goal, it’s almost like Tanner is in a rush to get back to prison. He’s made the world his enemy, all the world except his little brother. It’s hard being brothers, especially in Texas.
Meanwhile, Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Bridges) has just received notice that, for the sake of public safety, he is being forced to retire. That’s what you like to hear after decades of service, not only do you need to go, but if you stick around, you are a danger to the very society you protected. He’s a grizzled character, but it’s hard to distinguish this old timer with his portrayal of Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. Not that it really matters though, they are both old farts past their prime in the sweltering pasture of their once former glory. In fact, Hamilton becomes a metaphor for Old Texas, a dying breed being replaced by deceitful debtors, doing to the people of Texas what packs of Comanches failed to do hundreds of years ago – drive them from the land.
Hamilton’s half-Mexican, half-Indian partner Alberto (Birmingham) is sick and tired of the old bigot. Alberto just wants him to fade away quietly. But Hamilton is too much of a character to just end his career by sitting on his hands. He’s an old school Ranger, he doesn’t sit behind a desk and digitally outmaneuver his perps, he tracks them down in the dirt and uses keen police work in the process.
On the surface, that is what you get with this film, a cops vs. robbers old-fashioned hunt, where the Howard Brothers hit bank after bank and get more reckless while the Rangers are getting closer and closer to the inevitable showdown at high noon. But it would be foolish to call this just a Western. Hell or High Water is really a modern criticism of the bankers and debtors of the world and how they outwit their victims and manage to walk around unscathed. There is certainly some argument to be made for rooting for the Howard Brothers throughout the film – at least to a certain point.
But, this would be a boring film if everything went smoothly for our pair of bandits. And while I mentioned this one simmers, there are moments of adrenaline filled action and violence that happen so abruptly you almost miss the impact. Remember, Tanner is the bad-boy, while his brother Toby is the brains, but you’d be a fool to think Toby isn’t ready for a fight and then some.
Ben Foster is one of my favorite “character actors,” I call him that because he is always intense. I don’t mind that, I don’t need every actor to have some incredible range, and Foster owns what he is in every scene. I never feel like he’s putting on a face, he’s just a bad ass. My favorite scene with Foster is when he hits on the casino hotel clerk, what he says to bed her is priceless! Pine is solid too, as he has to incorporate more emotion as Toby. Toby is complex and simple at the same time. Bridges, as always dominates as a believable character. And I felt Birmingham’s pain having to endure the crotchety old rickety Ranger’s last hunt.
Hell or High Water is slow in parts, but it never becomes outright dull. Oh sure, watching an old man bicker about watching TV in a hotel room might not seem interesting, but there is actually a lot happening in those moments when you find yourself identifying with these cops and robbers as their two stories converge. Each one is driven by a different force, and it’s hard to argue with either side’s point of view.
But in the end, only the bankers win.
