Summer was Terrible, Bring on the Better Movies

Abandoned shops and decaying homes litter the background of Hell or High Water. No it's not a war movie or even a movie about Detroit, it's a movie about the dying small towns all across this country and it's one of the best movies of the year. The plot is simple with a bit of mystery: two brothers drive across Texas pulling off a string of bank robberies. One is your typical psychotic criminal, the other a mild-mannered polite Southerner who seems to be the mastermind. Why he's orchestrated the crimes is a question in the minds of the viewers as well as Jeff Bridge's law enforcement character who is on their trail. I was expecting a Western or a conventional thriller. What I got instead was a somber meditation on this state of the country today; Banks and corporations run the world screwing over the small business man and homeowners. poverty is a disease which spreads from one generation to another, trapping the children, grandchildren and so forth in a helpless cycle of debt they can never escape. Chris Pine's Toby is determined to change this and if you don't agree with his method, you certainly sympathize with his plight. There are great performances all around from the showy Ben Foster as his brother Tanner to Jeff Bridge's latest incarnation of the wise old mush mouth character he's been doing for20 years. He still makes it compelling though. One of the best of the year: B+