HELL OR HIGH WATER (David Mackenzie). 102 minutes. Opens Friday (August 19). See listing. Rating: NNNN
A crime drama about two brothers robbing banks while a crusty old cop and his partner are on their tail doesn’t sound very original.
But director David Mackenzie and screenwriter Taylor Sheridan have set their fine indie film in post-economic-tailspin Texas, where regular folks are out of work and have lost their homes while banks are greedily buying up foreclosures.
The filmmakers unspool the plot slowly, letting us get to know its two sets of characters gradually. On the one side, there’s divorced dad Toby (Chris Pine) and his hot-headed ex-con brother Tanner (Ben Foster), on the other the gruff, methodical and about-to-be-retired Texas Ranger Marcus (Jeff Bridges) and his laconic partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham).
Sometimes Mackenzie pauses a little too long on the impoverished landscape, but that’s about the only misstep in the film. Everything else, from Nick Cave and Warren Ellis’s twangy score to the suspenseful climax, where we’re rooting for both sides, is filled with dramatic complexity.
Foster, all coiled, snaky energy, and the understated Pine make a believable pair of brothers, but the real joy of the film is in watching Bridges and Birmingham play out their affectionate working dynamic like two characters in an Elmore Leonard novel.
