“Y’all gonna steal my gun, too?,” the patron, a hardy white-haired Texan, retorts. When chided by his ex-convict brother for not foisting the patron’s gun, Toby gingerly retrieves it from the man’s hip holster with far less brutality than one might be tempted to expect, given his brother’s loudmouthed aggression. The first clue that these robbers are sensitive to the similar plights of their fellow West Texas denizens comes in an exchange between older brother and Toby and the only patron in the first bank they rob. It is a highly comical scene, but as F ilmInquiry’s Danielle Moore wrote there is more going on here than one might immediately realize: We meet them as they amateurishly make their way through a robbery of a small town bank, Toby clearly using this as a means to an end and Tanner in it for the adrenaline rush. In the film, Chris Pine and Ben Foster play brothers Toby and Tanner, the former a divorced father of two, the latter a perpetual screw-up fresh off a 10-year prison stint for bank robbing. The script, which made The Black List, was inspired by Sheridan’s experiences growing up in Texas, with Jeff Bridge’s retiring federal marshall character being directly based on Sheridan’s cousin Parnell McNamara, who struggled with his retirement from service and now serves as a sheriff. To Mackenzie, who was previously mostly known for indie films made in the UK like Young Adam, Hell or High Water’s script by Taylor Sheridan ( Sicario) caught his eye due to the way it blended the conventional elements of a cops and robbers story with social commentary on the predatory practices of banks. It makes me think that the film was observing the right thing, but completely by accident.” It seems kind of interesting that the film was swimming in the waters that were part of that force or whatever you want to call it. We had no idea what happened in this country was going to happen. Trump wasn’t really in the limelight at all in the way he became. As the UK-born Mackenzie recently told KCRW, “We shot the movie a year and a half ago, at which time Mr. Not that such resonance was ever intentional. It also happens to be my favorite film of the year, one whose commentary on poverty in America is all the more meaningful in a world in which Donald Trump successfully mobilized/exploited disenfranchised white working class voters in his quest for the Presidency. It is currently the highest grossing indie film of the year ( at least in the U.S.) as well as one of the best-reviewed. Hell or High Water, director David Mackenzie’s modern day cops and bank robbers western set in the barren wastelands of West Texas, comes out on home video today, likely just the latest pitsstop on its way toward a healthy run through awards season.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
January 2023
Categories |