David Mackenzie’s (Spread, Asylum) 2016 surprise is a movie that you’ll like if you go in with very minimal expectations. If you think it’s going to be your typical bank robbery thriller, you might be disappointed. If you think it’s going to be full of suspense, you might likewise be disappointed. If you are interested in a simple character-driven story with a little more than meets the initial eye, you might enjoy Hell or High Water. It’s a bit more quirky than you might think. If you are expecting a massive bank caper drama, this isn’t it. Mackenzie tries to take a different angle with this movie, adding some humor, recklessness, and interesting side characters to a story that is, primarily, still a bank heist film first. And while this movie has a 98% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes, this doesn’t mean that most reviewers are scoring it a 9.8/10. Instead, it means that 49 out of 50 give this movie a positive review. While it is an interesting film (and the first one of 2016 that I have watched twice), it is by no means a Best Picture candidate. I know there was talk that it might sneak into the race. I have no idea how it got a nomination for Best Picture, whereas a movie like Sully did not. While Hell or Hgh Water is a decent movie, I think a lot of people (including myself) expected it to be something far more significant than it was. Continue reading Hell or High Water (2016) →