Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are brothers with an agenda. Pine is a hard-working divorced father, and Foster, a hard-living ex con. Together, they plan to rob a Texan Midland Bank or two, or three, or four…whatever it takes to Toby’s ex-wife back-child support, and protect their family farm from foreclosure. Turns out it’s not the bank robbers who are the bad guys…but the banks.
Think of it as Wall Street filmed as a western.
“Somebody robbed the bank this morning,” casually declares Texas Ranger, Marcus (Jeff Bridges), an ole prairie dog, with a slow tooth-picking drawl. He’s a real crowd pleaser…though don’t tell him that. Marcus’s partner is Deputy Alberto (Gil Birmingham) who struggles with the insults of being a mixed Native American Mexican. But Alberto knows far too well what it feels like to have your ‘land’ taken. The two men share beer-sipping sentiments and talk retirement. Alberto wants to retire on a porch in Galveston. Marcus, wants to ‘go out’ in a bank shoot out. So here’s his ticket….
This is truly offbeat cowboys and Indians. And the land is Comanche which not only means ‘enemy’, but references the greed of the old, and now new, west.
The story ignites all of the audience’s senses. When we think of Texas or Oklahoma we think of films that caricature these geographical places. But in this, we can taste the dust from the truck wheels, smell the plains, feel the souls of the Apache, and see the dawn’s early light, on an America gone dim.
How do we hate our nemesis, Toby, the cow-poke in a ski mask, with his bedroom blue eyes and soft demeanor? His only motive is to pay off the back taxes and reverse mortgage so his estranged sons might someday inherit wealth. Apparently there’s oil to be drilled on the farm.
Marcus is trying to play cat and mouse with the robbers. This ain’t his first rodeo. And like a ‘Columbo’ of sorts, he’s got it all figured out.
In a time when America faces challenges with law enforcement, working hard to get nowhere, and wondering what is the definition of America anymore, Hell or High Water may be your richly dramatic ticket. The movie delves deeply into humans with souls, into so many contemporary issues, and examine why good people do bad things. It’s clear the players want peace and the film takes us out that way….to a gentle ending.
This is Chris Pine’s breakthrough role – move over ‘Captain Kirk’ and whatever crap he’s acted in before. Today Chris Pine is a star. And this is Bridges’s best role since the Coen Brothers True Grit.
British Director, David Mackenzie, does a superb and highly-entertaining mix. The bank robbing adrenaline rushes manage to off-set the dialog of humanity and effect. Turns out MacKenzie may have the first serious Oscar contender on his hands.