After earning universal acclaim for his screenplay for Sicario, Taylor Sheridan once again hit it out of the park with his neo-western thriller Hell or High Water, which was too received highly among critics. Arguably one of the best heist films put on the screen in the last decade, the thriller excels at everything it sets out to achieve, especially with the bank robbery sequence,
But critics aren’t alone in lauding the thriller, as the neo-western got a unique bit of praise from Cain Vincent Dyer, who possesses vast knowledge when it comes to bank robberies.
Taylor Sheridan’s Hell or High Water Got Former Bank Robber’s Seal of Approval
Former bank robber Cain Vincent Dyer joined Insider to break down nine heist films, including Taylor Sheridan‘s Hell or High Water, starring Chris Pine and Jeff Bridges.
Sharing his laudation for the heist sequence, Dyer took the smaller and more realistic details into account, which elevated the robbery. From them grabbing just loose currency to avoid the risk of being traced by resorting to bundles to the adrenaline rush displayed during the chase, the former bank robber explained these things are very real.
Although some might write off the characters’ decision to rob two banks in the same morning as unrealistic, per Dyer, this aspect presented in the film is real too. He further admitted to being guilty of the same thing. which happened due to desperation.
“They robbed two banks in the same morning, I’m guilty of that. I knew one bank probably carried a certain amount during that morning, and there was another bank that was in the area. They did it for a different reason, it’s clearly their first robbery, they didn’t get a lot, so their desperation drove them to do a second one within the same day. That was very real, I’ll give it an 8 [out of 10].”
The attention to detail in the crime thriller further stands as a testament to why Sheridan is one of the best in the business when it comes to penning westerns.
Hell or High Water Director Has Joined Aaron Taylor-Johnson for Another Heist Thriller
While the Yellowstone showrunner has been busy in the TV landscape since Hell or High Water, its director, David Mackenzie, is coming back with another heist thriller.
Reuniting with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, with whom he previously worked on Outlaw King, their upcoming feature is titled Fuze, penned by British screenwriter Ben Hopkins.
Speaking of Hopkins’ script, the director said (Variety):
“Tension is one of the purest emotions that cinema can create. I had the idea of combining all the high stakes of an unexploded bomb with that of a bank robbery — clashing these two genres to create as much pressure as possible — in a context that feels as real as possible. Ben Hopkins took those ingredients and cooked up the compelling script that we are now taking into production.”
Although it’s hard to say if it can live up to the heights achieved by Mackenzie’s collaboration with Sheridan, following the director’s track record, it’s reasonable to be optimistic.
Hell or High Water is available to rent on Apple TV.
