Hell or High Water (2016) * * 1/2

Directed by:  David Mackenzie

Starring:   Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Jeff Bridges, Gil Birmingham

Hell or High Water is an exercise in viewer frustration.    It has greatness in its grasp, yet loses it before nearly grasping it again.    It's like trying to corral that nasty fly by trying to clap your hands on it.    You get close, but you get mostly frustrated.     Hell or High Water has its self-contained moments where we think we really have something here.    Then, there are others which meander.  

With its lonely, desolate West Texas scenery and a near-retiring lawman trying to do good one last time, I couldn't help (and I'm sure many people couldn't either) think we are watching an update of No Country for Old Men.     This isn't quite the case.    The bank robbers in this film, brothers Toby (Pine) and Tanner (Foster), are knocking over financial institutions to be sure, but they are not the cold-blooded criminals of the Coen Brothers movie.    Their mission is to rob a few banks to pay off the mortgage on the family ranch.     Their method seems sloppy (grab the small single bills and not the packs of larger ones and start robbing before there are too many witnesses present), but it works and they escape without a trace to pursue other banks.

Marshal Marcus Hamilton (Bridges) and his half-Comanche partner Alberto (Birmingham) are soon on the case and Hamilton more or less decodes the process and mindset of the robbers while expounding a begrudging admiration for their planning.    Hamilton is never far behind as the brothers hit one bank after another, launder the money at an Indian gambling casino, and then pay off the bank's mortgage with its own money.     Very clever.    Toby is the quieter planner while Tanner is the career criminal and potential loose cannon.    Tanner isn't afraid to shoot someone and go off on his own to knock over a bank while at a local diner.  

Hell or High Water devotes a lot of time with the men paired off.    Toby and Tanner, like Alberto and Marcus, have a nice, easy familiarity with each other.     We don't need to be reminded of their closeness.     We get the sense, especially between Alberto and Marcus, that they will miss each other when they are separated.     This provides some scenes of funny dialogue which only people as close as these guys are to each other can get away with.  

I admired the performances, even if Pine does a little too much of the brooding intensity thing, but they have distinct personalities which makes me wish they were in a better finished product.    Hell or High Water tends to start, sputter, stop, and then start again like an old car.     It plays longer than its 100 minute running time, at times being a little too reluctant to crank up the wattage and get to the finish line.