A review by Brooks Rich
Today we have one of the best films of not only 2016, but also the entire decade, that I feel gets sadly neglected. Even thought it did decently at the box office, this Neo-western heist film does not get the credit it deserves as being a film with an original screenplay and an original story. It received a best picture nomination but honestly people usually only know two films that are nominated in a year. In a modern cinema landscape saturated with remakes, sequels, and big budget comic book movies it's sometimes refreshing to watch a movie that's not based on an established property.
Chris Pine and Ben Foster play Toby and Tanner Howard, brothers who begin a string of bank robberies in West Texas. They are not overly malicious to customers and are only after the bank's money. On their trail are a pair of Texas Rangers, the senior most one played by Jeff Bridges, in a Academy Award nominated role, who is staring down the barrel of mandatory retirement. Bridges Marcus Hamilton is a rough old school Texas Ranger who can't stop giving shit to his partner about being half Mexican and half Indian. If there was a modern day cowboy, Marcus Hamilton is that character.
Hell or High Water is a bleak portrait of a modern America being held hostage by banks and the one percent. It never outright makes a political statement but the brothers are somewhat justified in their actions when the motive is revealed. The Howard brothers feel like characters right out of film noirs of the '40s and '50s, criminals to be sure but criminals with a moral code. But despite that moral code they still need to be brought to justice. There are no heroes and villains in Hell or High Water. Just people trying to get by whatever way they can.
Of course I can go on all day about how fantastic Jeff Bridges is. He is one of our greatest living actors. I can also say how great Chris Pine is as Toby Howard, the brother with the strongest moral code out of the two. But the real show stealer is Ben Foster, one of the most under appreciated actors working right now. Last year he was completely ignored at award season for his stunning turn in a film nobody saw, Leave No Trace. Look up the filmography of Ben Foster and watch a true master at work. He's always interesting and in fifteen or twenty years we'll be looking back and thinking, "oh man, we did not give Ben Foster the love he deserved."
Watch this film immediately if you haven't. It's a fantastic heist film while also harkening back to the dark westerns of the '70s and the film noirs of the '40s and '50s. Good stuff.
Today we have one of the best films of not only 2016, but also the entire decade, that I feel gets sadly neglected. Even thought it did decently at the box office, this Neo-western heist film does not get the credit it deserves as being a film with an original screenplay and an original story. It received a best picture nomination but honestly people usually only know two films that are nominated in a year. In a modern cinema landscape saturated with remakes, sequels, and big budget comic book movies it's sometimes refreshing to watch a movie that's not based on an established property.
Chris Pine and Ben Foster play Toby and Tanner Howard, brothers who begin a string of bank robberies in West Texas. They are not overly malicious to customers and are only after the bank's money. On their trail are a pair of Texas Rangers, the senior most one played by Jeff Bridges, in a Academy Award nominated role, who is staring down the barrel of mandatory retirement. Bridges Marcus Hamilton is a rough old school Texas Ranger who can't stop giving shit to his partner about being half Mexican and half Indian. If there was a modern day cowboy, Marcus Hamilton is that character.
Hell or High Water is a bleak portrait of a modern America being held hostage by banks and the one percent. It never outright makes a political statement but the brothers are somewhat justified in their actions when the motive is revealed. The Howard brothers feel like characters right out of film noirs of the '40s and '50s, criminals to be sure but criminals with a moral code. But despite that moral code they still need to be brought to justice. There are no heroes and villains in Hell or High Water. Just people trying to get by whatever way they can.
Of course I can go on all day about how fantastic Jeff Bridges is. He is one of our greatest living actors. I can also say how great Chris Pine is as Toby Howard, the brother with the strongest moral code out of the two. But the real show stealer is Ben Foster, one of the most under appreciated actors working right now. Last year he was completely ignored at award season for his stunning turn in a film nobody saw, Leave No Trace. Look up the filmography of Ben Foster and watch a true master at work. He's always interesting and in fifteen or twenty years we'll be looking back and thinking, "oh man, we did not give Ben Foster the love he deserved."
Watch this film immediately if you haven't. It's a fantastic heist film while also harkening back to the dark westerns of the '70s and the film noirs of the '40s and '50s. Good stuff.
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