Written by When it comes to Westerns, two people have made it their calling card: Taylor Sheridan and Clint Eastwood. Both filmmakers have explored many facets of the genre, with Eastwood delivering what was long viewed as his swansong to the traditional Western in 1992’s Unforgiven, before later revisiting the neo-Western drama with 2021’s Cry Macho.
Sheridan, on the other hand, has written Yellowstone, which is one of the most defining neo-Westerns in the current era. He also wrote the films Wind River and Hell or High Water, the latter of which was nominated for Best Original Screenplay. Despite Eastwood being a veteran of the genre and Unforgiven a classic, Sheridan did it better with Hell or High Water.
Unforgiven and Hell or High Water Share Similar Character Archetypes
Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven | Credits: Warner Bros.
Unlike traditional Westerns, both Unforgiven and Hell or High Water are revisionist Westerns, with the films sort of posing commentary on the genre archetypes. Clint Eastwood’s Best Picture winner centers around a former outlaw returning to the game, despite having ‘retired’ for a normal life.
Hell or High Water also features Jeff Bridges’ character, Marcus Hamilton, as an aging lawman, pursuing two bank-robbing brothers. While Hamilton faces forced retirement and searches for purpose, Munny is an impoverished widower dragged out of retirement solely to feed his starving children, not in search of glory, but out of absolute economic desperation.
Jeff Bridges mentioned that he had a reference to his character, Texas Ranger Joaquin Jackson, who reportedly passed away before the film was released. Bridges spoke to The Wrap about how much the ranger helped him get the authenticity right.
There was a wonderful ranger, a very notable Texas Ranger named Joaquin Jackson who was very close to me on the set. He’s no longer with us. He passed away not very long ago. But man, just being with that guy really informed my character, and I owe a lot of my success playing that character to him.
Clint Eastwood’s character, Will Munny, is meant to be the antithesis to all the heroic Western characters the actor has played in his career. Despite the similarities in archetypes, both characters are dealt with differently.
How Taylor Sheridan’s Oscar Nominee Does Westerns Better Than Clint Eastwood
Jeff Bridges in Hell or High Water | Credits: Lionsgate/CBS Films
Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven is by no means a bad movie. In fact, it is a classic and one of the few Westerns to win a Best Picture Oscar. Eastwood even won Best Director for the film. While it does work independent of other things, the film’s major theme is built upon Eastwood’s own reputation as a Western hero.
The film’s deconstruction of the genre is not just about Will Munny but also about Eastwood’s own journey in the genre, having done films like the Dollars trilogy, Pale Rider, Hang ‘Em High, and more. Munny wanted to return to the game one last time before he hung up his gun for good, and Eastwood seemed to want to do something similar with Unforgiven.
Taylor Sheridan’s Hell or High Water, on the other hand, is focused more on the American frontier, the world of the story, and the robberies themselves. It is less about the genre and more about the theme. Sheridan explored the thematic boundaries of the modern American frontier across his thematic trilogy (Sicario, Hell or High Water, and Wind River) before expanding that vision with Yellowstone.
That makes Sheridan’s film a better Western because it is independent of the image surrounding the main actor and explores the areas that were often represented in previous Westerns. The place and the world of the story take precedence over a legend’s own history.
Do you agree that Hell or High Water is better than Unforgiven? Comment below.
Unforgiven is available to stream on AMC+, while Hell or High Water is available on HBO Max.
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