The Texas Ranger Marcus (Jeff Bridges) uses his aw-shucks intuition to track the robbers and who early on states "They must be trying to raise a certain amount of money". His partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham) plays a much more interesting role but there's only room for one star here. Too bad. He was the most interesting character.
A somewhat point-to-point story with a number of well-worn plot points (the aging lawman facing retirement, getting shot but only wounded, robbery gone awry, close calls with the police, the final showdown). In that respect it did remind me of Heat, another bank robbery movie with a strong if interchangeable connection between predator and prey.
The larger point made was the dying frontier, that Last Picture Show, (also starring Jeff Bridges as Duane) an aspect which the cinematography showed well. Even the area of Archer City, Olney is the same as the fictional town of Thalia made famous by Larry McMurtry.
As well was the struggle of the 99% in a world of payday lenders, greedy bankers and the plight of the poor. A good point, also made well by a similar movie 99 Homes.
* * * * * of 5
Cousin Jon had a strong review and cannot believe anyone would rate it lower that he did. See for yourself.
Peter Sobczynski now writes the movie reviews for the RogerEbert.com website. What he recently penned about the movie ' Hell or High Water ' probably had Roger turning in his grave. I can picture Mr. Sob. . . playing the Gene role and Roger responding " Gene you are clueless as this is not only one of the best movies of the year , it is one of the best movies in years. "
So the last part of the faux quote is a stretch , but I'm biased. ' Butch Cassidy ' is my all time favorite movie so I really enjoy western themed movies. When I saw the trailer for ' Hell or High Water ' a few months back I knew I had to see the movie.
Trailers are often deceiving so I rarely see a movie without first reading some critical reviews ; Rotten Tomatoes and IMDb are my references. However , this time around I was only interested in the statistical numbers. I did not want to read any potential spoilers. A simple confirmation to the idea of a modern western would do. And though it is rare for a movie intended for mass release to score near a 100% , ' Hell or High Water ' kept its 98% rating.
I will not offer any details. It is a tight and well crafted script which touches on multiple themes. Plus it does it without the usual dwelling so common in most movies. Hit it , knock it out of the park and move on. The acting is on point. Chris Pine does a great young James Kirk , but Pine is phenomenal as Toby Howard. Jeff Bridges deserves another Oscar too. Some less known actors / actresses really nail their bit parts. Like waves on a beach the movie has a wonderful ebb and flow. The action is dispersed amongst scenes of west Texas ; though technically it's New Mexico. No roll on floor jokes , but some funny lines and scenes. Country music makes up the soundtrack.
I have since read a lot of the professional reviews. Basically I wanted to find out what morons ; 3 outta 144 are clueless professional critics ; didn't like the movie. Though the movie would be alright on DVD it really deserves a big screen viewing. In fact I am going back for a second helping this coming week. It's that good !
Popcorn rating = leftovers ( and that's the tops )
No comments:
Post a Comment