Trying to anticipate the robbers’ next move, he launches a road trip through a series of small towns with his partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham), a Christian of Native American descent whose capacity for shrugging off Marcus’ casual racism becomes a recurring motif.īridges does his best John Wayne when he isn’t going for laughs and the movie faces similar tonal problems, as if Mackenzie couldn’t quite figure out which genre trope he wanted to rip off next. Fortunately, he chose some good ones. “I never met nobody that got away with everything,” Toby asserts, but presses forward nonetheless.Įnter Texas Ranger Marcus (Bridges), a grizzled old-timer who’s basically filling the Tommy Lee Jones role from “No Country” with a punchier sense of humor. It doesn’t take long to establish the brothers’ dynamic: The soft-spoken Toby shows some resistance to the criminal life, but goes along to satisfy his wily older sibling, a troublemaker fresh out of prison who’s almost too good at breaking all the rules. ‘Elemental’ Review: Pixar’s Latest Offers Mixed Immigrant Metaphors and a Genuine Romance Cinematographer Giles Nuttgens emphasizes the sweltering heat with a bright desert canvas, while the twangy score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis keeps the pace moving at a vibrant clip. That ritual repeats itself several times, with the pair constantly on the move and evading authorities every step of the way. “Hell or High Water” leaps right into the action with an opening robbery in which masked assailants Toby (Pine) and Tanner (Foster) clean out a bank in broad daylight before speeding off to the desert, where they promptly bury their getaway vehicle. It’s also a radical departure from Mackenzie’s last feature, the jittery prison drama “Starred Up,” but “Hell or High Water” delivers just as many engaging moments in more outwardly entertaining terms. If “No Country for Old Men” were remade as a heist movie, it might look something like director David Mackenzie’s Texas-set thriller “ Hell or High Water.” Grounded in lively performances by Chris Pine and Ben Foster as a pair of bank-robbing brothers, with a capable assist from a no-nonsense Jeff Bridges as the sheriff on their tail, “Hell or High Water” tries nothing new but delivers a fun ride.Ī tale of scheming criminals and equally committed men in uniform engaged in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, Mackenzie has crafted an ode to an effective formula.
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