Gil Birmingham Was In A Better Taylor Sheridan Western 2 Years Before Yellowstone

Gil Birmingham is best known these days for his role in Yellowstone, but he was in a much better Taylor Sheridan western just 2 years before the TV series. Birmingham portrayed Thomas Rainwater on the cast of Yellowstone, chief of the Broken Rock Reservation who is trying to reclaim the land the Dutton family’s Yellowstone Ranch is built on.

By the end of Yellowstone, Birmingham’s character is successful, though not without strife as he struggles against both the core family and some dissent within his tribe. However, it hasn’t stopped him from continuing to appear in Marshals, a sequel series following Kayce Dutton. But, back in 2016, he held an even better role in a western created by Sheridan.

Gil Birmingham Was In Taylor Sheridan’s Hell Or High Water, And It’s Superior To Yellowstone

Birmingham’s other major role within Sheridan’s movies and TV shows was in the 2016 movie Hell or High Water. The film stars Chris Pine and Ben Foster as brothers Toby and Tanner Howard, who, in order to save their family ranch, commit a string of bank robberies. This leads to them becoming high-profile criminals in the area.

Investigating the crimes are two Texas Rangers, Marcus Hamilton, played by Jeff Bridges, and Alberto Parker, portrayed by Birmingham. As the pair begin to seek out who is committing the bank robberies, the brothers begin to get more desperate. This leads to a deadly slip-up that only serves to make the story all the more intense.

Hell or High Water is a western movie about the desperation of two brothers who are trying to save their family, but whose actions put others in danger as well. The movie ended up becoming a major hit for Sheridan: reviews for Hell or High Water are almost universally positive, the film scoring a Certified Fresh 97% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In addition to its critical success, the film was nominated for a plethora of awards. This includes four Oscars for Best Editing, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor in Bridges, and Best Picture. The movie’s major success is what helped bolster its creator to even greater heights, leading to the Yellowstone universe and other Sheridan TV shows.

But the movie’s real draw comes from the way its characters intersect and interact with each other. The film is a masterful example of a story that blends law enforcement trying to make things right with two brothers whose desperation is the driving factor behind their crimes. Birmingham’s character is a central part of how this story develops.

How Gil Birmingham’s Hell Or High Water Character Compares To Yellowstone’s Thomas Rainwater

Birmingham’s character in Hell or High Water has some key similarities and differences to his Yellowstone counterpart. For one, he’s a Texas Ranger, whose close work with Bridges’ character emphasizes the sense of lawful justice he believes in. The same can be said for Yellowstone‘s Rainwater and his attempt at getting the ranch’s land back.

However, both characters serve very different roles in their respective media. Parker from Hell or High Water is emphasized to be a secondary character in contrast to Bridges’ Hamilton. While the pair work together and have a clear friendship, events that transpire in the movie turn Parker into a driving force for events that come later down the road.

By contrast, in every season of Yellowstone, Rainwater is an active member of the story. His involvement in trying to bring the titular ranch back into Broken Rock’s fold emphasizes the lengths he’ll go to in order to preserve what he believes belongs to his people. It’s a more active role that, while similar, gives him more to do as a whole.

However, that doesn’t stop Hell or High Water from being an acclaimed western with a story that rivals Yellowstone‘s. Birmingham’s role in the film is a defining factor of the movie, one that compares neatly to his Thomas Rainwater role in the western franchise. It’s also a generally fantastic movie with compelling characters and powerful, complex themes.