I find few people have actually seen the film for today, as it had a rather limited release, but the movie still managed to get four Oscar nominations in 2016. This film tells a compelling story of crime and frontier justice all the while remaining visually stunning. This movie boasts an all-star cast of actors, each of whom adds depth to the film’s narrative. Hell or High Water is an often overlooked film that fits into the modern western genre perfectly.
Jeff Bridges stars as Marcus Hamilton, a soon to be retired Texas Ranger who follows the traditional values of an old Texas lawman. Gil Birmingham portrays that of Hamilton’s younger partner, Alberto Parker, a family man who always seems to be on the receiving end of Hamilton’s jokes and unwarranted advice. These two lawmen are following a string of bank robberies in West Texas and are determined to catch the culprits.
One of the men responsible for these stickups is Toby Howard (Chris Pine), a divorced father of two whose family’s ancestral ranch is about to be foreclosed on by a greedy bank that swindled his aging (now deceased) mother with a reverse mortgage. Toby sets to work with a master plan to rob this bank and its subsidiaries that foreclosed on his family’s property to then pay off his family’s debt with the bank’s own money. He is aided in his criminal pursuits by his hot-headed older brother, Tanner Howard, played by Ben Foster. Tanner is an ex con whose life has been a revolving door of crime and incarceration; he decides to aid his brother due to the thrill he gets from breaking the law.
The film’s themes play off the desperation and plight of people in a desolate, unforgiving landscape riddled with poverty and a lack of hope. Chris Pine’s character of Toby sums up his motivation in a few pithy lines: “I’ve been poor my whole life, like a disease passing from generation to generation. But not my boys, not anymore.” While I’m sympathetic to the brothers’ situation, they end up causing several unnecessary deaths along the way, which only serves to strengthen the law enforcement’s pursuit, leading up to an intense showdown towards the end.
Overall, I think this is a great film that has rejuvenated the modern neo-western genre. The majority of critics agreed, and Hell or High Water was nominated for Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor “Jeff Bridges”, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing. It even holds to this day a 97% score on the popular movie review website Rotten Tomatoes.
If you’d be interested in a great crime thriller with outstanding acting and memorable characters, I’d suggest you give Hell or High Water a watch. Be forewarned, however: it is rated R for some strong violence, language throughout, and brief sexuality. It is available at the library for rent.
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