Review of Hell or High Water (2016) by Jerry F — 17 Feb 2017

This is another film that takes the, "simple, yet effective approach." The story is a classic cat and mouse chase through various towns in Texas. Bank Robbers vs. the Sheriff and the Law. I've seen this before and in lots of movies, a storyline like this would be boring.

Fortunately, Hell Or High Water has a tight script with some great dialogue and a great cast. All the performances are suburb and all the actors have charisma! Chris Pine does a good job, but the two roles that are Oscar worthy are Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges.

I know Jeff Bridges is up for an academy award this year, except I believe Ben Foster should have been in the same category. Ben Foster has come a long way from being the shy, dorky kid from Get Over It back in 2001.

He plays the washed up, red neck, bank robber so well. I also love the world that this movie is set in. It feels so much like a classic western, except Texas'a Wild West is full of Dodge Ram Trucks, machine guns and technology.

What this film also does well, which reminded me of a Tarantino movie, is that the writers really have an eye for how people in this setting talk. All the little quips from various townsfolk are great and fit the world perfectly.

There is a great scene where Jeff Bridges and his partner try to order some food and the waitress comes up and asks, "Well, what DON'T you want?" Nothing to do with the rest of the movie, but just a nice world building moment.

Another note worthy thing is the action. There isn't much of it, but when it goes down, it goes down! It reminded me a lot of the missions out in the desert of GTA V. Definitely has a Grand Theft Auto vibe to it.

Now, I can officially say that there are two movies I'd would rather see win Best Picture other than La La Land. Nothing against La La Land, just saying that Hell Or High Water is a damn good movie!