Hell or High Water

          This summer there were disappointing franchise sequels (I’m looking at you Independence Day Resurgence and Jason Bourne), whatever DC is doing with its cinematic universe (can Zack Snyder just admit he’s only interested in fascist imagery?), and animated movies about talking animals (hey, they’re really cute). The intelligent, well acted, well written movie designed for adults has mostly fallen by the wayside. Luckily Hell or High Water, written by Taylor Sheridan (Sicario) and directed by David Mackenzie, rescued us from a summer of movie mediocrity. 

            The film stars Ben Foster and Chris Pine as Tanner and Toby Howard, a pair of brothers robbing branches of the same bank across West Texas. Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger on the verge of retirement, and his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) pick up their trail. The Howard brothers are only taking small bills and the F.B.I. can’t be bothered to investigate. The rest of the cast is a menagerie of colorful diner waitresses, cowboys, and West Texas men with more handguns than common sense. These secondary characters reveal a West Texas in cultural and economic decline with seemingly no one to blame. The waitresses struggle to pay their mortgages. The cowboys lament being left behind by the 21^st century as they try to save their cattle from brush fires. West Texas masculinity is on full display as middle aged white men pull out their trusty handguns and shoot indiscriminately at the Howard brothers. They even form a posse of rundown SUVs and pickup trucks and engage in a car chase across West Texas.

            Sheridan’s script holds back from revealing the Howards’ motive until about halfway into Hell or High Water, allowing the two sets of brotherly relationships to come into focus. Foster and Pine have an easy rapport, conveying years of missing back story in the moments between bank robberies. Pine, an actor who is at his best away from Star Trek, plays Toby with a simmering intensity and intelligence. Pine’s understated acting allows Foster’s Tanner fill up the screen. Foster plays Tanner as arrogant and violent, while also recognizing the consequences of their crimes. When Toby asks why Tanner agreed to participate in the bank robberies, Tanner answers, “Because you asked little brother.” Bridges’ Marcus Hamilton and Birmingham’s Alberto Parker share a similar brotherly bond. They trade casually racist barbs as Marcus makes fun of Alberto’s Mexican heritage. Alberto manages to land a few punches of his own as their dialogue reveals that underneath all of the mocking lies a mutual respect and affection that only emerges after years of camaraderie.  

            When the brothers finally reveal their motive, the plot moves forward briskly and slowly at the same time. Tanner and Toby are working against a ticking clock while Marcus and Alberto wait patiently at what they believe will be the brothers’ next target. By the time they all finally intersect, the audience is left wondering if the brothers are the bad guys after all. And if they’re not the villains then who is? Sheridan’s clever script reveals that the true villain of the film is the one thing that tied together the cops, robbers, diner waitresses, ranchers, and gun-toting white men that everyone else forgot in West Texas.