Hell or High Water – Talk about de ja vu!

I don’t know why, but sometimes when I watch a film it reminds me of another film and I just can’t shake that feeling for its entire runtime.  In this case, ‘Hell and High Water’ just made me think of ‘No Country For Old Men’ all the way through.  They are both set in the deserts of Texas and are about an outlaw on the run from the law.  Okay, so that smallest of synopsis doesn’t quite fit if you’ve seen both films, but it’s as near as I can get in such few words.  I guess what I’m trying to say is that, in this age of ‘shared cinematic universes,’ it wouldn’t surprise me to see both films somehow existing side by side. 

Whereas ‘No Country For Old Men’ had a man on the run with an ill-gotten bag of loot from a hired killer while the law was – kind of – hot on both their trails, ‘Hell or High Water’ as a pair of brothers robbing banks while Josh Brolin is a sheriff on the brink of retirement and his long-suffering partner looking into the trail of empty cash drawers they’ve been leaving in their wake.  Both films show the contrast between the two sets of characters’ journey and from now on I’ll do my best to concentrate on ‘Hell or High Water’ rather than constantly dwelling on how similar it was to ‘No Country For Old Men.’ The two robbers here are played by Chris ‘new Kirk’ Pine and Ben Foster (who looks fatter than the last time I saw him on screen!).  I guess this casting was deliberate, but Pine is definitely the more sympathetic of the two and we get the feeling he’s being led astray by his older, more violent and law-breaking brother.  Plus Pine is also afforded the backstory of an ex-wife and child who he owes money to.  Then we have the long arms of the law, mainly Brolin, who shines as the gruff and not always politically correct sheriff who is hot on their heels.  I would say that him and his partner are probably more enjoyable to watch than the bank robbers as the banter between them and general long suffering vibe is truly a joy to watch.

So, it’s ultimately a cat and mouse game where you probably can guess that the two couples are going to meet up during the final act and it’s all going to end badly for someone.  Despite enjoying the film with its lush desert setting and realistic banter between the pairs, I’d say that its predictability would be the one area where it falls down a bit.  I was only about a quarter of the way through when I made my prediction as to how it will play out for the four main characters.  I won’t mention it here as it turned out to be 100% correct, therefore would be giving away one hell of a major spoiler. 

Despite the bank robbery scenes naturally involving high-tension and speedy getaways, I did feel that the overall pacing of the film was quite slow.  To some, that may sound like a negative point, but it’s not the kind of story that needs fast-paced shootouts and high-budget actions scenes.  It’s a character piece as much as it is a cops and robbers film.  I did my best to stop mentioning ‘No Country For Old Men,’ but I have to say that if you enjoyed that, i.e. characters, settings and mood, then you should like this one too.  At least no one gets killed by a weird, portably hydraulic air-type pump thing.  Weird.

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that