Directed by:
David MackenzieScreenplay:
Taylor SheridanCinematography:
Giles NuttgensCast:
Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster, Chris Pine, Dale Dickey, Buck Taylor, Gil Birmingham, Katy Mixon, Amber Midthunder, Kevin Rankin, Marin Ireland, Kevin Wiggins (more)VOD (4)
Plots(1)
Two brothers (Chris Pine and Ben Foster) come together to rob a bank that is foreclosing on their family land. Vengeance seems to be theirs until they find themselves in the crosshairs of a foul-mouthed Texas Ranger (Jeff Bridges) looking for one last triumph on the eve of his retirement. As the brothers plot one final heist, a showdown looms at the crossroads where the last honest law man and a pair of brothers with nothing to live for except family collide. (Showtime)
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Reviews (13)
As always, the fascinating setting of neo-western Texas is so bleak and grimy as to be immensely beautiful, and set within it is an admittedly unoriginal but utterly absorbing, rhythmic and logically unfolding plot about two bank robbers and a persistent sheriff. The performances are excellent throughout; directorially, the film it’s not dazzling, igniting tension with general communicativeness and intense escalation of the inevitable collision of the two sub-worlds, but within the established technical and narrative parameters, it’s a perfectly effective conversational detective drama that manages to create an excellent atmosphere only with engaging dialogues, diversified with an academically targeted racist theme. A great cool movie with the traditional Bridges and a great musical score by Nick Cave, a steal of the golden bald man might have been appropriate.
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A modern western with everything, even with a straightforward uncomplicated story that is not stupid. And although I liked Sheridan's Wind River a little more, I have no reason not to be satisfied. The script takes great care of all the characters (even the smallest ones, such as the old man in the bank or the waitress - actually waitresses - in the restaurant), the actors are perfect, and the directing and the camera make it all great. Add the music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, and the fact that this whole thing has the zest of Sam Peckinpah films, and you'll understand why this isn’t the last time I will watch Hell or High Water.
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And the Oscar for non-stop pure redneck neo-western goes to? David Mackenzie, who has handled an uninteresting material decently, creating a swaggering retro one-off with a boisterous Jeff Bridges the way we like him and a wacky Ben Foster the way we absolutely love him. Oddly enough, it also works quite well as an interesting probe amongst working-class Midwesterners. It doesn’t have any bigger ambitions, but it’s good for a Saturday siesta.
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The pure essence of Cormack McCarthy, about which regular adaptations of his works can just dream about. Without exaggeration, the best film neo-western, watching which you will be astonished on how many levels it works, without any possible "but". It works smoothly as a genre movie, as a study of magnificently written (and without exception equally magnificently played) characters, as a hypnotic movie that raises emotions benefiting from Cave and endless Texas distances, as well as a camera that does them justice as a reflection of time and a social insight into the soul of the had-working Republican class, which has nothing, banks are bullying them and circumstances force them to take one credit after another and who get from one debt to another (no other film will show you in such an illustrative and nonviolent way why America chose Trump), as a textbook of minimalist dialogs "about something", even if seemingly "about nothing", like... Well, I could continue for hours and hours in the same way. For many years, I have not seen a movie that would so skillfully blur the line between pure genre pleasure and existential festival movie. For me, it's simply an instant classic, and not just within the "Peckinpah" genre.
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The beautiful, colorful Texas setting and the lead actors are great in Hell or High Water, but I'm not so sure about the rest. The film is definitely high quality, the acting is entertaining and so are the visuals, but for me personally it focuses too much on the characters of the two detectives in contrast to the two thieves and their personality shift over the course of almost two hours, and the story is not that well developed. The action is sparse and there is almost no suspense, but the film has its charms and by all accounts will find an audience; I guess I was expecting something a little different.
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