by Stephen Milek
Westerns are one of the oldest movie genres. The Great Train Robbery of 1903 pretty much set the template for all the Westerns that followed. While the massive popularity Westerns had in their heyday have fallen there is a mini resurgence in the genre. And Hell or High Water is the latest to try to modernize it. What is fascinating about the movie is they took everything you expect in classic westerns and set it in modern times. It has Cowboys and Indians, bank robbers, poker, shoot outs, and an old no nonsense sheriff. It's all set in a Texas dealing with the current financial crisis.
The movie is about two brothers (Ben Foster and Chris Pine) who decide to rob banks and at first seem pretty incompetent. It's becomes clear that Ben Foster's character has a history of breaking the law and is very comfortable robbing banks but Chris Pine's character was always the good brother and is very hesitant. For every criminal there has to be law enforcement looking for them. This is where Jeff Bridge's Marcus Hamilton comes in. Hamilton a Texas Ranger that is close to retirement he has seen everything and likes to live on the edge. He even says at one point that he hopes their is a shoot out so he can go out in a blaze of glory. His partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham) a part Indian and part Mexican officer is the butt of many of his jokes but you can tell they have much respect for each other.
We slowly learn the real plan of the brothers as the law slowly moves in on them. And as with any great Western you find yourself at least partially rooting for the bad guys.
The movie is a great blend of classic Western and modern day feel. The scene that best exemplifies this is a scene about halfway through at a gas station. In the middle of nowhere Texas the brothers pull in for gas. First thing we see is a guy leaving the store and getting on his horse. As the guy is riding away a bright colored car with some punks in it drives up. The juxtaposition of the cowboy and punks feels like it sums up the feel of the movie. The Texas in this movie feels like a place that is stuck in time. They hold on to (or trapped by) their past but it doesn't stop progress or new people moving in. Another great thing about the film is the dialogue and characters created by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario). Outside the 4 main characters there are memorable supporting character. From the bank teller at their first heist to the waitress that one of them left a big tip too. And the dialogue is fun. The conversations seem natural and had the audience laughing throughout. And Jeff Bridges seemed to be having a lot of fun with his character. It's one of his best roles in a long time.
The biggest problem I had with this movie was the plot is kind of ho-hum. The whole robbing banks but it's for a good reason just wasn't that interesting. While I thought Jeff Bridges did a great job his character just kind of figured out the whole plan with hardly any evidence. And then just sat around waiting for a big chunk of time. And that brings us to another problem the movie had, pacing. The movie was a bit slow at times. The heist scenes where fun and the last one definitely amped up the intensity but the scenes between them kind of dragged.
Overall: B
The movie had some memorable side characters and fun dialogue but only made up partially for the slow and mostly uninteresting plot.
The juxtaposition of old and new makes the movie worth seeing as it's definitely something we haven't seen in modern Westerns much.
We slowly learn the real plan of the brothers as the law slowly moves in on them. And as with any great Western you find yourself at least partially rooting for the bad guys.
The movie is a great blend of classic Western and modern day feel. The scene that best exemplifies this is a scene about halfway through at a gas station. In the middle of nowhere Texas the brothers pull in for gas. First thing we see is a guy leaving the store and getting on his horse. As the guy is riding away a bright colored car with some punks in it drives up. The juxtaposition of the cowboy and punks feels like it sums up the feel of the movie. The Texas in this movie feels like a place that is stuck in time. They hold on to (or trapped by) their past but it doesn't stop progress or new people moving in. Another great thing about the film is the dialogue and characters created by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario). Outside the 4 main characters there are memorable supporting character. From the bank teller at their first heist to the waitress that one of them left a big tip too. And the dialogue is fun. The conversations seem natural and had the audience laughing throughout. And Jeff Bridges seemed to be having a lot of fun with his character. It's one of his best roles in a long time.
The biggest problem I had with this movie was the plot is kind of ho-hum. The whole robbing banks but it's for a good reason just wasn't that interesting. While I thought Jeff Bridges did a great job his character just kind of figured out the whole plan with hardly any evidence. And then just sat around waiting for a big chunk of time. And that brings us to another problem the movie had, pacing. The movie was a bit slow at times. The heist scenes where fun and the last one definitely amped up the intensity but the scenes between them kind of dragged.
Overall: B
The movie had some memorable side characters and fun dialogue but only made up partially for the slow and mostly uninteresting plot.
The juxtaposition of old and new makes the movie worth seeing as it's definitely something we haven't seen in modern Westerns much.
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