Looking at the releases for this summer, one can't help but feel a little devastated. One demonstration of mediocrity after another. This is why when "Hell or High Water" came out, I was so excited to see it. It sounded new, refreshing, and original, and it had actors that have been known to do good work in the film scene.
"Hell or High Water" follows two brothers, Toby and Tanner. They are robbing a string of Texas Midland Banks to save their ranch from the foreclosure Texas Midland Bank recently passed. Toby, played by Chris Pine, is the mastermind of the plan. He decides to break the cycle of poverty by securing the ranch for his two sons through his robberies and then bringing them the immense profits from the oil that was just found on the land. Tanner, played by Ben Foster, is an ex-convict with robbing experience and a trigger happy mentality. He is more of the muscle of the operation. The pair robs two banks to begin with, both small and easy banks. They catch the attention of U.S. Marshall Marcus Hamilton, an aging and reluctant to retire law enforcement officer who seizes the robbery case as one more chance to do his job, and do it well. Together, he and his partner Alberto track Toby and Tanner, cracking witty banter all the way.
Tanner slips us when he compulsively robs a bank across the street from the diner that he and Toby are eating at, giving Hamilton just enough information to start weasling stuff out of people.
After securing the property for his sons, Toby and the rest of the film get a little boring. The director puts in a lot scenes that are good, but don't seem to have a lot of direction. There are a lot of snippets of Tanner's personality, like him having sex with a hotel clerk in the same room as his brother, but these scenes don't culminate to anything other than the cliché "I'm a douche but I love my brother" kind of ending.
Overall, the film was very good considering what we had to work with this summer. The frequent shots of the desolate Texan economy are reminiscent of Richard Brooks' "In Cold Blood," a haunting film about how socioeconomic circumstances drive men to crime. I wish there had been just a touch more emphasis on this aspect of the film, but I think that it was well done regardless. I do highly suggest this movie to anyone wanting to drag themselves out of the Hollywood pit of despair this summer.
