Hell or High Water (2016) - SPOILER-FREE Review

Editor’s Note: this is an old, unformatted, unedited review. The author’s opinion might not match the original thoughts written in this article.

Directed by: David Mackenzie

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham

Runtime: 102 min

Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are two brothers that reunite after some time apart and they plan to rob banks in order to help some family issues that I don't want to spoil for you since I think not knowing makes the experience much richer.

When everything seems to be going well, Marcus (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger about to retire, wants to have a last great pursuit and he decides to go after the brothers, transforming this film into a suspenseful thrilling Western.

One of the best movies of 2016, without a single doubt! Remember when I said that The Magnificent Seven was the Western that we needed? Well, Hell or High Water just surpassed it.

This is an amazing piece of art, with characters full-developed at the smallest detail. David Mackenzie takes his time to not only introduce us the characters, but he makes them THE film. There is an absurd level of personality development with scenes that are so simple and subtle, but that manage to captivate us through a brilliant script.

Chris Pine and Ben Foster have probably their best performances ever, as well as an Oscar-worthy performance from Jeff Bridges. I mean, how great can they be? I love the duo chemistry, I cared about them so much and that put me at the edge of my seat at the end of the film, when all the action unfolds. Also, Gil Birmingham (Alberto Parker) played brilliantly Marcus' partner. The constant bickering between each other is funny and compelling.

I'm surprised with the quality of the direction by Mackenzie. I didn't know him until now, so I'm blown away by the outstanding achievement in what he did. Great cinematography, amazing long takes with a perfect soundtrack accompanying this thrilling Western. As for flaws, I can't really pinpoint any ... The pacing is deliberately slow, so that might not please some people, but the truth is that, if the pacing isn't as controlled as this one was, the characters can't be as captivating and the connection between them and the audience falls apart.

Hell or High Water is by far the best Western of 2016! Pine, Foster and Jeff Bridges have Oscar-worthy performances (especially the latter) in a film with a brilliant direction by David Mackenzie. Cinematography, soundtrack, script, suspense, characters, story ... This movie achieves everything that it wanted to achieve with every parameter at the very top of quality. A Western masterpiece.

| A+ : 9.3-10 | A: 8.7-9.2 | A- : 8.0-8.6 | B+ : 7.3-7.9 | B: 6.7-7.2 | B- : 6.0-6.6 || C+ : 5.3-5.9 | C: 4.7-5.2 | C- : 4.0-4.6 | D+ : 3.3-3.9 | D: 2.7-3.2 | D- : 2.0-2.6 | F: 0-1.9 |