Fargo On The Brazos - - Hell And High Water (2016, USA, Color, 102 min) - - 11 September 2016

Recommended. From the starting gate, this movie sets sight on the popularity of No Country For Old Men. That’s a high bar to jump. In addition to a tense, crafted plot, standard Cohn practice requires both authentic rural color and actors that can perfect, then transcend that drawl. This legerdemain is UK(!) director David Mackenzie’s (Starred Up) strongest contribution to Hell And High Water. The plot is basically a cop chase between two Texas Rangers and two younger, white-trash brothers. The interaction of the Rangers, Jeff Bridges (True Grit) and Gil Birmingham (The Lone Ranger) and the brothers, Chris Pine (Star Trek) and Ben Foster (3:10 To Yuma) is outstanding, particularly Pine and Foster. It’s the baggage of the Bernie messages in Hell And High Water that keep the movie from soaring, for example, the clunky Native American asides. The story has sufficient populist props without such a heavy hand.