Film Review: "Hell or High Water" (2016).

"Blood always follows money" in Hell or High Water. This neo-western heist film directed by David Mackenzie and written by Taylor Sheridan. The film follows Toby and his brother Tanner, an ex-convict, who resort to robbing banks as they can't afford their mortgage payments anymore. Everything goes as planned until the police is hot on their trail.

In late April 2012, Deadline reported that Sidney Kimmel Entertainment had acquired Sheridan's heist film Comancheria with Peter Berg to direct. Endgame Entertainment and Focus Features were also among the studios bidding for the project against SKE. It is the second installment of Sheridan's trilogy of "the modern-day American frontier". Sheridan drew much of his inspiration from the TV miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989) having earlier read Larry McMurtry's 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel on which the series was based. In early April 2015, it was announced that Jeff Bridges was set to star, while Chris Pine and Ben Foster were also in talks to join, and David Mackenzie was set to direct the film. In early May, Pine and Foster were confirmed to star. By late May 2015, Gil Birmingham, Marin Ireland, and Katy Mixon rounded out the film's cast. At the same time, principal photography commenced, and wrapped in early July. Filming took place in New Mexico and Arizona. At Cinemacon 2016 in Las Vegas, a standee was presented for the film, revealing that the title had been changed to Hell or High Water.

The film stars Bridges, Pine, Foster, Birmingham, Ireland, and Mixon. Pine and Foster deliver powerfully involving performances that capture Toby and Tanner's inner emotional energies with remarkable balance. There is almost an unpredictable dynamic between Toby and Tanner. Pine and Foster's performances are two of the finest of the year, and Bridges once again demonstrates his unique brand of dramatic intensity. Bridges would seem to have live wires running through his whole body and it is still very interesting to follow his career. Bridges' scuzzy charisma and chippy swagger has enlivened a handful of B-level films in the past, though his presence has never been so fearsomely concentrated as it is here. The supporting cast all do excellent work too, but this is Toby and Tanner’s story, and so it’s Pine and Foster's film. Their performances are a revelation. Pine and Foster are the main attraction in this tough neo-western heist thriller.

Smart, hard-hitting and queasily realistic, Hell or High Water is an instant cinematic classic. Mackenzie isn't attempting to craft a larger-than-life antiheroes here, but delving into the sociology of this hellish subculture, where prisoners and staff alike coexist in this dehumanizing environment. Sheridan brings more than just realism, however, crafting the central brother relationship on the foundation of classical Greek tragedy. Neo-westerns and Heist thrillers have always had their share of criminals bonding, so there's something satisfying about making it biological - it's a shrewd twist in the formula. For the most part this is furiously compelling stuff, convincingly mounted and superbly acted.

Simon says Hell or High Water receives: