Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Starring: Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Ben Foster, Keith Carradine, Nate Parker
Directed by: David Lowery
Rating: R
Genre: Drama, Romance, Western
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Casey Affleck) breaks out of prison and travels to reunite with his wife (Rooney Mara) and their daughter.

Review:

Tim: The first and most obvious thing about Ain't Them Bodies Saints is that the title is really cool, even though it's basically gibberish and means nothing. There's just something catchy about it. It made me want to see this movie. The film itself is interesting, a modern day dramatic western romance. This movie might not be great, but it is a solid, entertaining film.

Director David Lowery created a pretty interesting little film. It is definitely a smaller scale film, a quiet meditation. I like that this film didn't need to fill every frame with action and suspense. This is a movie that lets the story breathe. It is pretty interesting how the story unfolds. The most exciting moment happens right at the beginning- Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara commit a crime and engage in a shootout with police. It happens so fast, you blink, and it's all over. In many other films, this would have been the climactic scene- the one the whole movie builds toward. In this film, that movie happens right at the beginning. This film is more interested in what comes after the climax. That's pretty interesting. While the after-climax is not quite as instantly memorable, it's even more interesting.

The cast is a big reason why I enjoyed this movie. Casey Affleck is really building a nice career and I love his focus on these smaller scale films. That is where you develop your acting ability, and Affleck is working hard on that. I think Rooney Mara has some real talent as an actress. While I didn't love her performance here, she worked fairly well. I didn't connect quite as much with her character as I should have, but she was fine. Ben Foster is a very underrated actor and again, he gives a powerful performance that will be mostly overlooked. The guy is just a terrific actor and he was very good here. These three all give strong performances.

This movie does a good job of unveiling its story in an entertaining fashion. While the film is a bit uneven and does drag in certain places, for the most part, it works. The cinematography is oftentimes quite strong. The film focuses on the quiet, small moments as we get to know these characters. The story is definitely a slow boiler, but the payoff is at least decent.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a film that is worth checking out, but temper your expectations. It's a solid movie made outside of the major Hollywood studios. In many ways, that is very good, but in others, it follows a similar format to these smaller, independent films that try so hard to be anti-Hollywood. I thought this was a good movie, but it certainly could have been a lot better. I was intrigued by the characters but I never felt any real emotional connection (that's the film's biggest weakness). Despite its flaws, this movie is worth seeing.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



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