‘Hell or High Water’: A Good Ol’ Texan Time
David Mackenzie’s epic character study “Hell or High Water” is a movie similar to and quite different from every other movie I’ve ever seen. It’s similar in that it takes many of the same tropes and uses the same beats as most bank robbery movies. There are the criminals, and the law officers. Two sides of the same coin. But “Hell” is unrivaled in its capacity to love its own characters and in its brutally honest caricatures and subversions.
Written by Taylor Sheridan, the movie takes place in West Texas post-recession, and follows the unkempt criminal brothers, Toby and Tanner (Chris Pine and Ben Foster), as they rob Texas Midlands Banks pursued by the rugged Texas Ranger Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and his partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham).
If you didn’t like Texas, you probably won’t like this movie, because there’s a whole lot of it. Every stereotypical Texan you could think of makes a cameo here, from sassy young waitresses to sassy old ones, too. The landscape is full of dust, dust, and more dust, and the soundtrack is loaded with good ol’ country tunes. In fact, I may never have seen a movie that more embodied its locale than this one.
And it’s perfect, too. Texas is the perfect place for a story about has-been geezers and wanna-be youngsters. And that’s what this movie is all about. The haves and the have-nots. And all of our protagonists fall in the latter category. Toby needs the money for his kids, and Marcus, who’s on the verge of retirement, doesn’t want to. He hasn’t sucked all the marrow out of his job just yet.
Even side characters (or, more accurately, especially) have lost things. The sassy young waitress who takes a $200 tip doesn’t want to give it up as evidence because she needs it to pay for her house. Sheridan creates a world where the banks have screwed everybody over, but gun-toting, law-abiding citizens still strive to protect them from would-be bank robbers.
It’s a grungy world, and a hell of a lot of fun to partake in viewing it for an hour and 45 minutes.
From the sun-baked cinematography to the delectable performances, Mackenzie’s movie is aching with humanity for its characters and its world. He wants you to stay a while and have a good time, and maybe come out the other side with a bit more sympathy for all of these racist scumbags.
{★★★★}