David Mackenzie's Hell or High Water may be a neo-Western, but in its own way it is just as politically relevant and important as nearly anything else that was released in 2016. Only Andrea Arnold's American Honey took such a penetrating glance into rural, white American poverty. Yet Mackenzie resists the temptation to romanticize the poverty featured in his film. It's a remarkable achievement which, along with Jim Jarmusch's Paterson, represents everything American cinema should be moving towards. Jeff Bridges and Chris Pine are pitch-perfect in their roles. But what really wowed me was the screenwriting. There are so many quotable, memorable moments which I'm sure will monopolize my brain for weeks to come: "Hey, Mr. Banker!"; "What don't you want?"; "Let it burn...they have to take care of themselves now"; "I'm the Lord of the Plains"; the final conversation on the porch. In terms of pure screenwriting, it is a colossus. But as a film, it's one of the most moving and effective of the year. It's certainly the best non-Tarantino Western in quite some time.
9/10
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