Hell or High Water
05/06/17 Filed in: Amazon Prime
I missed this film at the cinema but it's just become available on Amazon Prime. I've not actually tagged it as a comedy but there is a wry humour throughout.
At the beginning of the film we're introduced to two brothers, Toby and Tanner, robbing a bank. There is a degree of amateurism about them and we immediately see that Tanner is the one leaning towards violence, while Toby seemingly wants to avoid any bloodshed. We later understand this difference, Toby being the 'clever' one of the two, while Tanner being an ex-con and basically a bit wild. The story becomes more interesting when we learn the reason for their criminal activity. Their mother is recently deceased and the Texas Midland Bank is looking to repossess her farm because of an outstanding reverse mortgage on the property. Thus we have the ironic situation whereby the brothers are stealing exclusively from Texas Midland to repay Texas Midland. A Robin Hood-esque sort of tale.
This, of course, tends to move ones sympathies to the brothers. But there is no such sympathy coming from Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton. On the cusp of retirement he immediately sees some interesting features to the thieves' MO. For a start, why are they only targeting Texas Midland. And why are the amounts stolen so small. Marcus, along with his native Indian partner Alberto are on the case. Hamilton's plan is to wait in what he regards as the next town to be robbed, having decided that the criminals were sure to come calling.
Meanwhile we learn a bit more about the two brothers. Toby is divorced, and his motive in all this is to provide a good life for his ex wife and two children. Tanner seems to be in it merely for the thrill of the game, at one point leaving Toby in a diner while he pops out impromptu to rob the bank across the road, resulting in a panicked escape leaving Toby in a state of disbelief.
The two brothers do indeed start to head for the town where Hamilton and his partner are waiting, but Tanner decides on a bigger town, with a bigger bank! When they get there the bank is full of customers, and there's a security guard. The two of them can't watch everybody and a shoot out ensues with both the security guard and an armed member of the public being killed. As they try to escape, town locals outside start shooting and a convoy of their vehicles pursue the brothers out of town. Tanner, however, is well 'tooled up'. Stopping on the highway and brandishing an assault rifle he drives the pursuers in retreat. Hamilton and his partner are by this time on their way to the scene.
Toby transfers to a second car that they've left parked on the highway while Tanner leads the now pursuing police vehicles off road, where he abandons the vehicle in a fairly explosive fashion and makes for the high ground, taking with him a snipers' rifle. Hamilton has now arrived and joins the gunfight, making use of local knowledge from one of the town folk to get the drop on Tanner.
We now move on, with Hamilton now retired and still convinced that Toby was implicated in the heists, although his colleagues at the Rangers' office assure him that there is no proof. He decides to visit the ranch, where he is met by Toby toting a rifle. An interesting conversation ensues, interrupted by the arrival of Toby's ex wife and his two children. The two men clearly 'understand' each other completely.
Jeff Bridges is well cast as Marcus Hamilton, while Chris Pine as Toby and Ben Foster as Tanner add credibility to the plot. The Guardian reviewer described the film as elegiac but, as I've mentioned, there's also a comedic thread running through it. Such as in the scene where Hamilton and Alberto go in a diner for a meal while staking out the town. It could surely only happen in Texas.
Toby transfers to a second car that they've left parked on the highway while Tanner leads the now pursuing police vehicles off road, where he abandons the vehicle in a fairly explosive fashion and makes for the high ground, taking with him a snipers' rifle. Hamilton has now arrived and joins the gunfight, making use of local knowledge from one of the town folk to get the drop on Tanner.
We now move on, with Hamilton now retired and still convinced that Toby was implicated in the heists, although his colleagues at the Rangers' office assure him that there is no proof. He decides to visit the ranch, where he is met by Toby toting a rifle. An interesting conversation ensues, interrupted by the arrival of Toby's ex wife and his two children. The two men clearly 'understand' each other completely.
Jeff Bridges is well cast as Marcus Hamilton, while Chris Pine as Toby and Ben Foster as Tanner add credibility to the plot. The Guardian reviewer described the film as elegiac but, as I've mentioned, there's also a comedic thread running through it. Such as in the scene where Hamilton and Alberto go in a diner for a meal while staking out the town. It could surely only happen in Texas.