Ain't Them Bodies Saints
(B- or 2.5/4 stars)
'Ain't Them Bodies Saints' (written & directed by indie filmmaker David Lowery) has the distinction of being the worst titled film of the year. Good thing it isn't the worst FILM of the year ... not by a long shot. This 1970s folk tale is set in the Texas Hills; and both its moody story & hushed dialogue reminded me of a lyrical Terrence Malick film. i.e., gorgeous cinematography, oodles of "meaning" - for those who "get" it.
Wanted Texas outlaws Bob Muldoon & Ruth Guthrie (Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara) are trapped in a farmhouse by a gaggle of Texas Rangers and, during the shoot-out, Ruth clips Deputy Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster) with a bullet. The doomed couple surrenders without much of a fight. And gallantly, Bob takes the blame. The result: he is sentenced to 25 yrs. in prison. The narrative jumps forward 4 yrs. and we see that the acquitted Ruth has given birth to Bob's adorable daughter Sylvie, now aged 4 {obviously}. The 2 lovers exchange copious letters in the mail. But it just isn't enough.
Bob, unable to handle the long sentence, & desperate be with his family, succeeds in escaping jail in his 6th attempt. Now he has to figure out a way to get back to Ruth & the daughter he's never met (all while police keep constant watch over Ruth). Quiet melodrama ensues as the conflicted Ruth, given a nice farmhouse by Bob's surrogate father, Skerritt (Keith Carradine), begins a tentative romance with the honorable deputy (Foster) she shot 4 years ago.
I liked this movie. The performances are stellar. Casey Affleck makes for a very likeable, sympathetic outlaw. Rooney Mara felt very naturalistic in this tormented anti-heroine role. And when is Ben Foster not awesome? He plays against type here and is endearing. The film also looks beautiful; if a little redundantly butterscotch in color scheme. The intrinsic value of this melancholy drama is in the raw emotions exposed by the 3 wounded souls at the center of the plot. But the actual story never really reaches the epic proportions that I imagine the writer/director aimed to attain.
The whole thing is sort of pretentiously glum. All that said, the film is never uninteresting. Yes, there are slowww stretches, but I was always intrigued to see how the chips would fall. So, good-ish film. I just wish David Lowery would have scaled back on the pretentiousness of the script & the pretentiousness of that title! I don't care if the title is lifted from some cryptic folk song. I just hope he doesn't do that again for his next film, haha.
Wanted Texas outlaws Bob Muldoon & Ruth Guthrie (Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara) are trapped in a farmhouse by a gaggle of Texas Rangers and, during the shoot-out, Ruth clips Deputy Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster) with a bullet. The doomed couple surrenders without much of a fight. And gallantly, Bob takes the blame. The result: he is sentenced to 25 yrs. in prison. The narrative jumps forward 4 yrs. and we see that the acquitted Ruth has given birth to Bob's adorable daughter Sylvie, now aged 4 {obviously}. The 2 lovers exchange copious letters in the mail. But it just isn't enough.
Bob, unable to handle the long sentence, & desperate be with his family, succeeds in escaping jail in his 6th attempt. Now he has to figure out a way to get back to Ruth & the daughter he's never met (all while police keep constant watch over Ruth). Quiet melodrama ensues as the conflicted Ruth, given a nice farmhouse by Bob's surrogate father, Skerritt (Keith Carradine), begins a tentative romance with the honorable deputy (Foster) she shot 4 years ago.
I liked this movie. The performances are stellar. Casey Affleck makes for a very likeable, sympathetic outlaw. Rooney Mara felt very naturalistic in this tormented anti-heroine role. And when is Ben Foster not awesome? He plays against type here and is endearing. The film also looks beautiful; if a little redundantly butterscotch in color scheme. The intrinsic value of this melancholy drama is in the raw emotions exposed by the 3 wounded souls at the center of the plot. But the actual story never really reaches the epic proportions that I imagine the writer/director aimed to attain.
The whole thing is sort of pretentiously glum. All that said, the film is never uninteresting. Yes, there are slowww stretches, but I was always intrigued to see how the chips would fall. So, good-ish film. I just wish David Lowery would have scaled back on the pretentiousness of the script & the pretentiousness of that title! I don't care if the title is lifted from some cryptic folk song. I just hope he doesn't do that again for his next film, haha.