4) Hell Or High Water
Movies don’t get much tighter than Hell Or High Water. David Mackenzie’s direction shouldn’t be ignored, but Taylor Sheridan churns out a gritty, no-bullshit story of southern fried cops and robbers without an ounce of fat. From the first scene, we’re hooked by two good-old boys who rob banks to bail out their family debt, establishing a dusty Robin Hood tale with do-gooding appeal. The Howard brothers drink, steal and speed their way around Texas with a heightened sense of urgency, while a leathery Ranger hunts their every move.
Truth is, I wouldn’t mind seeing all the leading men get nominations. Jeff Bridges plays a “past-his-prime” lawman nearing retirement as Ranger Marcus Hamilton, while Chris Pine and Ben Foster yuck it up as the two Howard Brothers. Pine is the more calculated, sensible father who doesn’t favor a jail sentence, while Foster blazes his “rebel without a cause” trail. All three fit the quick-witted sensibilities of Sheridan’s story with cowpoke appeal, and bite back cleverly at one another throughout their rubber-burning chase. It’s exciting from start to finish, all spun around the glory of owning your fate like a man should.
Plus, Foster spits one of my favorite lines of dialogue when Pine asks him to stay sober enough to focus – “Who the hell gets drunk off of beer?”