Hollywood needs more movies like 'Hell or High Water'

After a pretty disappointing summer season, Hell or High Water -- an exceptional new cops and robbers film meets western -- hit me like a breath of fresh air. It also left me feeling kind of sad, not only because Hollywood so rarely makes smart adult movies like this with mainstream appeal -- but also because the movie isn't finding the audience it deserves, at least so far.

This little gem of a movie has towering performances from its three leads -- Jeff Bridges, Ben Foster and a revelatory Chris Pine. It also has some smart, subtle commentary on what the modern economy can do to small towns and the men who yearn to be big in them.

It's not an art film. In fact, on its surface, it's a nifty little crime movie. But it has so much more going for it -- from its Texas atmosphere to its rivetingly realistic action sequences -- that it stands as a great genre picture.

Pine and Foster play brothers pulling off a series of strategic bank robberies so they can settle some outstanding debts and get even with some people who wronged them. Bridges (who is Oscar-worthy here) is an irascible-but-wise lawman, right on the brink of retirement, who is poised to bring them in.

Instead of relying on cliches or bombarding the audience with quick cuts, the film takes its time to really establish its characters and setting (including the bravura opening one-take shot that puts the viewer right in the center of an unfolding heist). Because the film isn't afraid to let its thoughtful story unfold, we get richer performances, vivid side characters and little moments of beautiful detail that stick in your head long after the credits roll.

Hell or High Water is one of those movies that lingers and gets better and better the more you think about it. It shares some DNA with No Country for Old Men, but it has some intriguing preoccupations of its own -- such as its nuanced and touching portrayal of a half-Mexican, half-Native American policemen or what appears to be an authentic local actress playing an embittered waitress.

I can't say enough good things about Pine and Foster -- one, a great character actor trapped in a matinee idol's body, and the other, a bit of a chameleon who really seems to be coming into his own. But for me this is Bridges' picture. He's matured from underrated genius to national treasure territory.

You trust him on screen. You believe he is this character. The word I kept coming back to again and again when I watched this film (one of the best I've seen this year): real. This film has real stakes, takes place in the real world and revolves around characters that are plausibly real.

And although the climax is just as exciting as anything you'll find in a big budget blockbuster, it never loses its grounding as a serious-minded character study. Even if the character is more about the nature of man or how money and violence can degrade his inherent decency.

It's the kind of movie that used to stand a chance of gaining traction from positive word of mouth, but nowadays, small movies almost never get the opportunity to play in the same space as the tentpole movies. This film -- and the similarly small but compelling Southside With You -- are worth seeing and recommending to someone, anyone, with discriminating tastes.

I want more of this -- but it can't happen if we don't shoe our encouragement with our dollars.