Hell or High Water: A Bleakly Humorous Crime Tragedy
A sorrowful, intelligent, and witty crime tragicomedy, yet somewhat prone to preaching, about Texans driven to rob banks.
Toby Howard (Chris Pine), a Texan, discovers oil on his land, but he’s unable to reap the rewards. His mother, during her illness and passing, was forced to take out a predatory loan against the ranch, and now the bank is poised to seize the Howard family’s land. Toby has only a few days to settle the debt, leading him to team up with his ex-con brother, Tanner (Ben Foster), to rob branches of the very bank that holds their debt. As their initial heists proceed almost flawlessly, veteran Texas Rangers Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges) and Alberto Parker (Gil Birmingham) are assigned to investigate the crimes.
The Essence of America
What is America? It’s a question that defies a simple answer. America is a nation of a thousand faces, each reflecting a truth about this vast country. However, if forced to choose a single visage that unadorned captures the essence of the American spirit, the remote reaches of West Texas, the land of cowboys and oilmen, would be a prime candidate.
Once, this land belonged to the Comanche tribe, but white settlers drove the Native Americans into reservations, seized their pastures, and built their ranches. For a century and a half, they survived and prospered in the Texan steppes, until a new menace arrived – aggressive banks, treating the descendants of the settlers much like they once treated the Comanches. But when banditry runs in your blood, surrendering to the victor is not an option. And so, Texans take up arms to expropriate the expropriated.
From Blacklist to Big Screen
The film’s script was featured on Hollywood’s “Black List” in 2012, a compilation of beloved screenplays that struggled to find producers.
All of the above isn’t just idle musing inspired by the new film from Scottish arthouse director David Mackenzie (“Young Adam”) and American screenwriter Taylor Sheridan (the recent thriller “Sicario”). “Hell or High Water” doesn’t just hint at these themes. The film, in plain language and with professorial thoroughness, lectures viewers on American history and Texan psychology. Nearly every character has a line or even a monologue on these topics. The creators of “Hell or High Water” seem to distrust the audience’s ability to draw their own conclusions from the film’s grim plot and the visuals of a dying land, where billboards offer either quick loans at exorbitant interest rates or assistance in filing for bankruptcy.
Although almost all of the film’s action takes place in West Texas, the film was shot entirely in eastern New Mexico.
However, as this is an international project aimed at a global audience, not just residents of the USA and Texas, there is a certain rough-hewn truth in speaking directly, rather than in hints that might be misunderstood in Russia, India, or China. Or even in West Texas itself, where, judging by the film, directness is valued more than subtlety, and the inhabitants aren’t known for their intelligence or education.
A Flawless Gem with a Minor Crack
Be that as it may, the film’s insistent preaching is the only flaw in an otherwise remarkable work, which offers a poignant and dynamic psychological drama instead of the mindless action typical of the genre. Of course, there are action scenes in “Hell or High Water,” too. But the film should be watched not for them, but for the group portrait of colorful provincial Texans.
Virtually every character in the film, including waitresses in diners and random witnesses to the robberies, is a more vivid and engaging personality than half of the main characters in “Furious 7,” and the film is more interesting when the characters are talking than when they’re shooting. This is primarily due to the script, not the casting. Even Jeff Bridges isn’t just relying on his mega-charisma, but on the fact that he has something to play and something to say – and not just on abstract topics. And since Mackenzie’s film is a tragicomedy, you’ll be able to empathize and laugh heartily, and at witty, rather than “toilet” jokes. And don’t think that because the film tells a oft-told story about bank robbers, it has nothing to surprise you with. The film’s plot holds a couple of surprises that are worth waiting for in order to appreciate the full sad irony of “Hell or High Water.”