Respond to these rapid questions in our Hell Or High Water quiz and we will tell you which Hell Or High Water character you are. Play it now.
The majority of moviegoers are at the point where they are desperate for something that doesn’t look like it will actively insult their intelligence after a summer that was filled with retreads, ripoffs, and whatever in God’s name that thing with Kevin Spacey as the talking cat was supposed to be. It is written by Taylor Sheridan, whose first produced screenplay became last year’s widely acclaimed thriller “Sicario,” and it is directed by David Mackenzie, a British filmmaker who is responsible for such intriguing works as “Young Adam,” “Perfect Sense,” and “Starred Up.” At first glance, “Hell or High Water” would seem to be the perfect candidate; it is written by Taylor Sheridan, whose first produced screenplay became last year’s widely acclaimed thriller “S Even more impressive is the fact that “Hell or High Water” boasts a cast that is led by the national treasure that is Jeff Bridges. And yet, moviegoers who are desperate to see anything that does not involve a superhero may be willing to overlook its shortcomings. On the other hand, others will undoubtedly be disappointed to discover that it is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.
Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster), two brothers who are planning to rob a Texas Midland bank branch, arrive at the branch at the beginning of the movie. Despite a few hiccups along the way, they are successful in stealing the loose bills from the registers. They then proceed to do the exact same thing at a different branch of the same bank, and despite the fact that things go a little more smoothly there, the outcome is the same. On the surface, these acts of criminal activity do not appear to be particularly noteworthy; however, as we will see in a moment, there is a great deal more going on with them than meets the eye. We soon learn that Texas Midland is the name of the bank that has recently completed a foreclosure on the family ranch following a series of questionable but legal maneuvers. To prevent losing the location and everything it stands for (which is much more than initially meets the eye), the quietly intelligent Toby has devised an ingenious plan to rob a string of Texas Midland branches, only taking the money from the registers to avoid dye packs and the interest of anyone other than the local police, and then using their own money to pay back the debt. He has even devised a particularly ingenious method for concealing the proceeds of his criminal enterprise. If it weren’t for the occasional threat posed by Tanner’s more fiery side, it would look like the ideal crime spree: no one gets hurt too badly, and the victim, to be honest, deserves what they get.
U.S. Marshall Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), an avuncular lawman on the verge of retirement who comes across like a combination of Columbo and Deputy Dawg, isn’t so sure. While the majority of the police investigating the robberies do indeed fail to give them much notice, U.S. Marshall Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) isn’t so sure. To him, what appears to be carelessness on the part of his coworkers, who are not even attempting to go for the big money, appears to be extremely astute planning on his part. As Hamilton and his half-Comanche partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham) pursue their unknown quarry, they even develop a certain degree of admiration for the robbers because of the discipline that drives their robberies. This admiration stems from the fact that the robbers know exactly what they are doing. Having said that, this is still considered to be illegal activity, and when Tanner makes an impulsive decision to commit a robbery on his own without the meticulous planning that was required for the other jobs, it provides Hamilton with just enough information to begin unraveling the mystery. In addition to this, it necessitates a quicker pace of planning on Toby’s part, which winds up throwing things off-kilter in ways that are unexpected and potentially disastrous for everyone involved.
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The beginning of “Hell or High Water” contains some of the film’s most memorable moments. It is amusing to watch a bank heist that is staged on a smaller and more realistic scale, especially after watching so many bank heists that are meticulously choreographed and try their damnedest to outdo the likes of “Heat.” The moment we realize that there is more going on than at first appears to be the case, the level of interest in the situation significantly increases. However, once the writer Taylor Sheridan has established the basic premise of the story, he doesn’t seem to have much of an idea how to fill the hour and a half or so between those early scenes and the moments that serve as the climax. Instead, it appears that he has chosen to steal a page from the Cormac McCarthy playbook in order to use the spare and laconic tone that is characteristic of the renowned author wherever it is possible to do so. There are times when this strategy is successful, such as in the witty and biting lines of dialogue that appear now and then (Hamilton has a great one when he spies a bank manager he wants to talk to and remarks, “Now that looks like a man who could foreclose on a house”) or in some bits of bloody black humor, such as the time when the brothers attempt to take a bank where the customers are packing more heat than the guards. The majority of the time, however, it makes a valiant effort to imitate works such as “No Country for Old Men,” and there are times when it does so to the point where you can practically feel it straining from the effort, but it never quite succeeds in doing so. The conclusion is a particularly disappointing part of the play; although it is staged and performed as well as they possibly can, the entire scene is just so implausible that it does not have the impact that Sheridan and Mackenzie clearly intended it to have.
Hell Or High Water Quiz
The performances, despite the fact that none of them are particularly groundbreaking, are most likely the best thing to be had in the film. The performance that is the most unexpectedly satisfying of the bunch is delivered by Chris Pine, who delivers the best work he has ever done in a role that requires him to dial down the smirky charm of his new Captain Kirk in order to play a character with a much more serious mindset. Ben Foster is acceptable in the role of his brother, but at this juncture in his career, he would be wise to steer clear of any roles in the near future that involve characters who could be characterized as “twitchy.” As for Jeff Bridges, he is enjoyable to watch; of course, one could count the number of his non-entertaining performances on one hand and still have room left over in case “The Giver 2” ever becomes a thing; however, this is not a performance that will linger heavily in future Lifetime Achievement Award highlight reels. [Caveat:] one could count the number of his non-entertaining performances on one hand and still have room left over in case “The Giver 2” ever becomes Katy Mixon, who plays a bone-tired waitress, delivers the most memorable performance among the various supporting roles. She is the recipient of a sizable tip from a guilty-ridden Toby, and in response to Hamilton’s request that she hand it over to him as potential evidence, she gives him the item, but not the money.
Also, you will find out which character are you in this Hell Or High Water quiz.
It is disheartening that “Hell or High Water” has so many wonderful elements, but ultimately fails to provide viewers with a viewing experience that satisfies them completely on all levels. The narrative as a whole is a little too formulaic for its own good, and even the compelling aspects are not quite able to compensate for this shortcoming of the narrative. It is possible that some viewers will be a little bit more willing to overlook its flaws because films that are even vaguely competent have been so scarce as of late. To loosely paraphrase one of the most important lines from “No Country for Old Men,” “If it ain’t a good movie, it’ll do until the good movie gets here,” If only “Hell or High Water” had spent a little more time trying to find its own voice and a little less overtly trying to ape the styles of its influences, it might have been able to become as good of a movie as it hopes it could have been.
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