Thursday, August 11, 2016

HELL OR HIGH WATER (A-)

A soon-to-become-familiar-face come Oscar nomination time, this dire straits dust bowl crime thriller brims with all sorts of mosey-along, modern day western machismo.  On top of its brilliantly hypnotic cinematography and intelligently searing dialogue, it boasts three brilliantly entrenched performances from Pine, Foster and Bridges – the latter of which will most definitely get nomination nods come awards season.  The West Texas atmosphere may be vast but this is an intimately told tale of brotherhood, justice and doing the wrong thing for all the right reasons…  Sporadically balanced with touches of violence and humor, this tense, cold-blooded character study ambles along with a confidently deft and wily fight-the-power charisma unique unto itself.  A grimy and unhinged snake in the boot to the mediocre summer movies that proceeded it, this is a 2016 high water mark for intriguingly grown up and original cinema.  A must see in every sense of the term.

Starring: Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges and Gil Birmingham
Directed by: David Mackenzie
Rated: R
Running time: 1hr. 42min.
Story: Texas brothers come together to rob branches of the bank threatening to foreclose on their family land. For them, the hold-ups are just part of a last-ditch scheme to take back a future that seemed to have been stolen from under them. Justice seems to be theirs, until they find themselves on the radar of Texas Ranger, Marcus looking for one last grand pursuit on the eve of his retirement.
Website: www.hellorhighwater.movie/#home

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