Hell or High Water is a film about two brothers in West Texas who resort to robbing banks to save their family ranch after their mother’s death. It’s a family film… 🙂

Story: Written by Taylor Sheridan, this film is very, very, very Texas. He either did a ton of research, hired authentic West Texas consultants or is from West Texas. The characters are as decidedly Texas; The dialogue is spot-on, complete with racial biases of Native Americans, Mexicans and indigent white people. The absence of black and asian people is also spot-on…

And while there is really nothing original about this movie, (Poor farmer brothers down on their luck after their mother dies, desperate to keep the family ranch turns to crime to solve the problem and becomes the obsession of a law enforcement officer), It has a quality that many of the others don’t have. Mr. Sheridan figured out how to give this version a personality of its own…

Performances: Chris Pine as Toby and Ben Foster as Tanner are fully believable as Texas ranchers. They both do a great job of owning the roles. I alway say my litmus test is if I cease to see the actual person during their performance… Mission accomplished. Both Pine and Foster made me believe they were raised in Texas.

AND OF COURSE, Jeff Bridges plays the Texas Ranger hot on their trail. AND OF COURSE, he’s three weeks from retirement, so, this is his swan song and HE plans to own it. I do feel like I’ve seen this character before from Jeff Bridges…

The comic relief between him and his partner, Alberto is dry and so ethnically charged. You’re not quite sure if its real or just a matter of the Texas way. Then you realize… It’s just the Texas way…

Visual: There are lots of pickup trucks. There’s alot of farmland and small towns. Boots, cowboy hats and everyone in every town carries a gun. And don’t forget the plaid shirts… Even the people in the towns remark about the plaid shirts as a cliche. The Director of this film gets an A+ for wardrobe and props.

Rating: This film gets an A. Bet you didn’t see that coming… While it fit every stereotype of Texas, the actual story moves without hesitation. You won’t be waiting for the next thing to happen… The story just keeps happening…

Of late, I’ve seen a number of films that either didn’t connect the dots or left scenes incomplete or are just not well told stories. There are no scenes that drag in Hell or High Water; It keeps you engaged the entire run. See it…