Hell or High Water (2016)
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Two brothers commit a series of bank robberies to save their family ranch from foreclosure while being pursued by Texas Rangers.
The story
In West Texas, brothers Toby and Tanner Howard rob two branches of the Texas Midlands Bank to save their family ranch from foreclosure following their mother's death. The land is in debt due to a reverse mortgage, but the discovery of oil on the property makes the stakes higher for Toby, who wants to secure a future for his children. They are pursued by two Texas Rangers, Marcus Hamilton and Alberto Parker. As the brothers move to a nearby diner and eventually attempt to launder their stolen money in Oklahoma, the tension escalates between the desperate siblings and the law enforcement officers closing in on them.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Toby and Tanner Howard rob several banks to save their ranch from foreclosure. After a tense standoff and a shootout where Tanner kills a security guard and a civilian, the brothers flee. During a chase, Toby is shot by a local posse. The brothers split up; Tanner acts as bait and is eventually killed by a local's knowledge of the area. Toby successfully launders the money and secures the ranch. Later, Ranger Hamilton, who is still haunted by the case, confronts Toby at the ranch. They nearly come to blows until Toby's family arrives, and the film ends with a tense, unresolved conversation between the two men.
- First release year
- 2016
- Runtime (minutes)
- 102
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Mackenzie
- Writers
- Taylor Sheridan · writer
- Cast and characters
- Jeff Bridges · Marcus Hamilton; Chris Pine · Toby; Ben Foster · Tanner; Gil Birmingham · Alberto Parker
- Genres
- Western; crime drama; action; heist
- Themes
- Family; Poverty
- Tone and mood
- Harsh; Elegiac
- Premise and plot tags
- Heist; Western; Brotherhood
- Source material / true-story basis
- Comancheria
- Franchise connections
- American Frontier Trilogy
- Reception
- The film received critical acclaim, particularly for the performances of Pine, Foster, and Bridges, as well as the screenplay and editing. It was praised for revitalizing the Western genre.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 97% · scale: percentage · review count: 288; Metacritic · score: 88 · scale: 100 · review count: 47
- Awards and nominations
- Academy Award · Best Supporting Actor · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Picture · Nomination; Academy Award · Best Original Screenplay · Nomination
- Production trivia
- It was the final film produced by OddLot Entertainment before its dissolution in 2015.; The script won the best Black List script in 2012.; The film was selected as one of the American Film Institute's 10 movies of the year.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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