Cast. Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, Chris Pine.
Rating. 67%
David Mackenzie's Hell Or High Water is an archetypal American tale, a modern-day western that tries to transcend the genre.
The West Texas setting evokes immediate echoes of No Country For Old Men, especially as Hell Or High Water pitches Jeff Bridges as a near retirement Texas Ranger, Marcus Hamilton, a slightly less world-weary and considerably more politically incorrect character than Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee-Jones).
Beyond this obvious comparison, Hell Or High Water duly acknowledges more under-rated neo-noir westerns, the likes of Blood Simple, A Perfect World, Lone Star and Logan.
Hell Or High Water benefits from a wonderful script by Taylor Sheridan, and refined, understated and self-assured direction from David Mackenzie. The director resists the urge to overtly romanticize the bank robbers. Hell Or High Water is no Bonnie and Clyde, Point Break or Public Enemies. Instead, the brothers, Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) aren't glamorous figures, merely men pushed to the edge.
Despite the casting of three strong lead actors, the principal on-screen presence in Hell Or High Water remains the sun-bleached, dusty and debt-ridden West Texas landscape. At the second Texas Midland bank robbery, an elderly customer is asked, "You got a gun, old man?" The old man responds, "Damn right I got a gun." Whilst this mid-robbery exchange initially seems light relief, the mindset and the subsequent propensity and ease in which eager gun-toting vigilantes engage encapsulates the steadfast belief of many citizens of the United States, and in particular, Texas in the right to bear arms. One week after the horrific events at Uvalde, South Texas, this element meant Hell Or High Water was an uncomfortable watch in places.
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