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| madman.com.au |
Yes, yes, I know this movie has been out for like a month, but I don’t have a bunch of movie theater options, folks! Anyways, I finally got to see this film a few days ago, and I’ve been pondering what to write about it since I saw it. It’s been getting rave reviews and has done pretty well financially for being a small film, but is it really up to all the hype? Well, let’s dive on in and find out!
This film follows two brothers, Tanner (Ben Foster) and Toby (Chris Pine), as they begin robbing banks in West Texas in order to get enough money to save their recently deceased mother’s property from foreclosure. These two aren’t just your average bank robbers, though, as they strategically pick their targets and only go for small bills that can’t be traced. Despite their cleverness, they still attract the attention of the Texas Rangers, with near-retirement Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and his partner Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) dispatched to deal with them. As the foreclosure date nears and the Rangers close in, the brothers will have to decide how far they’re willing to go to protect their family's land and secure their futures.
I’ve had some interesting discussions with some friends about just what kind of film this is. I am firm in the belief that this is a modern-day Western, and I point to director David Mackenzie’s use of wide landscape shots that resemble Sergio Leone’s films or the tense standoffs between characters that feel like something John Wayne or Clint Eastwood would have done. One friend in particular has argued against this, saying that he feels it’s a simple cops and robbers movie that works as a tight-knit thriller and character study, and another has told me that I look too much into things, which is preposterous, of course! The message of the film is something else that I’ve debated with people, but none of this is a criticism of the movie itself. Great movies always cause people to see different things in them and discuss what they think it means, and rest assured when I tell you that this is not only a good movie, but a great one.
One of the reasons that I think this is meant to be a Western is the beautiful cinematography and direction, which really sets up the tiny towns of West Texas as the ghost towns from those old films. Life has completely passed them by and left them in the past, and the fact that the two brothers have to resort to such extreme measures shows how desperate things are. The film constantly flashes past signs reading “debt relief” or something similar, and everything just looks dusty and hot. I honestly felt like I was there, and given how bad those towns looked it really helped me relate to the characters and their situation.
Speaking of the characters, each and every actor in this film is phenomenal, from the big names to even some random walk-ons. They all give an authenticity to the movie that lesser movies or filmmakers wouldn’t have bothered to, and that’s important to selling this story. Ben Foster, as he usually does, commits to the role of the crazy criminal brother whose recklessness puts them in danger, but he still seems like a real person (albeit a person you wouldn't want to know). Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham shine as old partners that pop jokes on each other and have a history that is never explicitly stated but is easily inferred from how they interact. These are people who live for the hunt and are about to have that taken away, and they relish each chance they get (especially Bridges’ character) to try and outsmart the brothers, making them very compelling and dangerous threats.
The person I was most impressed by, though, was Chris Pine. Yes, he’s a great Captain Kirk, but I’d never seen him actually do a performance that made me go “Wow, this dude is great.” Well guess what, this dude is great. His Toby is a world-weary man trapped in basically the Midwest version of Detroit just trying to save his mom’s property, and Pine sells all of that with just his eyes, a rare gift that few actors these days possess. He doesn’t carry himself with a bunch of cowboy swagger, he walks and talks like a real human being trapped in the worst situation possible, and you really feel for his struggle even though he takes part in these crimes. It’s telling that in a cast that includes some of the greatest actors out there that he stands above them all.
When I talk about the characters and the setting and everything else, I really think there are two people to thank: Mackenzie, the director, and Taylor Sheridan, the writer. Sheridan previously wrote Sicario, one of my favorite movies from last year, and he once again shows his chops here. This film is like a Western thriller, but it is peppered with a surprising amount of humor, from the banter between the Rangers and the brothers to just how salty some of the people in this town are. It also avoids a lot of clichés, not having the characters devolve into tropes and actually having some major twists that you don’t see coming. One of the most impressive things about the writing is that the film never asks you to choose sides, showing just how dangerous the things are that the brothers are doing and never trying to convince you that they’re in the right. Not trying to force audience sympathy takes a lot of maturity and confidence, and Sheridan’s script is filled with it.
I’ll discuss what I think the film is actually about later, but honestly I can’t think of anything bad to say about this film. As far as movies this year go it is definitely one of the best things I’ve seen and is a huge step up in quality from pretty much any summer movie (minus The Nice Guys). It’s really between this and Eye in the Sky for my favorite movie, and I highly doubt that anything will reach that level for me this year. If you enjoy a good thriller, like Westerns, or really if you just like enjoying yourself at the movie theater, you need to get out and see this as soon as possible. I can’t think of a better film to see, and I give it my highest recommendation.
My Rating: 5 stars out of 5
Hell or High Water is in theaters now.
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