Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Name: Ain't Them Bodies Saints
Genre: Drama, Romance, Crime
Released: August 16, 2013
Duration: 96 min
Rating: 74
Cast: Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Keith Carradine, Nate Parker, Rooney Mara

2013

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Generally favorable reviews based on 35 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 73 Ratings

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6.9

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6.9	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 73 Ratings

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Ain't Them Bodies Saints

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Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: August 16, 2013 | Not Rated

Starring: Ben Foster, Casey Affleck, Keith Carradine, Nate Parker, Rooney Mara

Summary: An outlaw who escapes from prison sets out to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met.

Director: David Lowery

Genre(s): Drama, Romance, Crime

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 96 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Andrew O'Hehir

Aug 15, 2013

Visually ravishing, tonally commanding and built around magnetic performances by Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck as Bonnie-and-Clyde doomed lovers, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints is a tragic but not despairing tale of fatal romance set in the Texas hill country in the mid-1970s. It marks the arrival of an immense talent who will be new to most moviegoers – although Lowery is a well-known figure in the indie-film world – and it’s surely one of the best American films of the year. Read full review

Keith Phipps

Aug 15, 2013

While virtually every shot looks like a work of art, much of the beauty of Ain’t Them Bodies Saints comes from Lowery’s refusal to choose sides. Read full review

Time Out London Cath Clarke

Sep 4, 2013

‘Bodies’ gets under your skin and stays there. And the gospel handclapping soundtrack feels like it’s drawing you into a dream. Read full review

Matthew Kassel

Aug 13, 2013

David Lowery’s quietly beautiful new film, his most ambitious to date, is at first glance a standard love story, set in the American West of what appears to be the early 1970s. Over time, however, Ain’t Them Bodies Saints transcends its plot, revealing itself as a cinematic meditation on the daunting power of loneliness. Read full review

Michael Phillips

Aug 29, 2013

Since he popped up and broke hearts in Altman's "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," Carradine has learned a wealth of practical acting knowledge about how much and how little need be done at any given moment. He provides the on-screen link to those earlier days and brings the natural authority a director craves in a performer. Read full review

Peter Rainer

Aug 16, 2013

Thematically at least, it’s like a John Ford movie with pickup trucks. But everything plays out with a sodden deliberateness, as if something mythic were going on. No such luck. Read full review

Kyle Smith

Aug 15, 2013

In mashing together story elements from Terrence Malick’s “Badlands” with the look of Malick’s “Days of Heaven,” Lowery put 90 percent of his energy into the atmosphere and 10 percent into the script. Read full review

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User Reviews

DrBlahBlah

May 2, 2017

Another underrated gem, one of the few Westerns (like No Country For Old Men) that doesn't feel immediately anachronistic and silly. Beautifully shot, filled with nuanced acting, this is a movie to savor.

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

MarcDoyle

Aug 19, 2013

One of the best movies I've seen in the last couple of years. Beautifully shot, and tremendous acting performances by the four leads (Mara, Affleck, Carradine, and Foster). It's great to finally see Ben Foster in this kind of sympathetic, virtuous role after so many years of playing theOne of the best movies I've seen in the last couple of years. Beautifully shot, and tremendous acting performances by the four leads (Mara, Affleck, Carradine, and Foster). It's great to finally see Ben Foster in this kind of sympathetic, virtuous role after so many years of playing the unbalanced, dangerous outsider. I also have to mention the score, which was perfect in tying the movie together, especially as the tension rises toward the climax. Lastly, Nate Parker does an amazing job in a supporting role we need to see more of him on the big screen.… Expand

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

foxgrove

Sep 11, 2013

Beautifully photographed and superbly acted. Casey Affleck proves once again that he is the better actor than brother Ben in a performance that is second only to his 'coward Robert Ford'. For the first time I have taken note of Rooney Mara and I honestly don't think Keith Carradine and BenBeautifully photographed and superbly acted. Casey Affleck proves once again that he is the better actor than brother Ben in a performance that is second only to his 'coward Robert Ford'. For the first time I have taken note of Rooney Mara and I honestly don't think Keith Carradine and Ben Foster have ever been better. The star of this film ,however, is the lyrical writing which the actors bring to life exquisitely. The combination of the two makes many scenes totally hypnotic. There is also a pervading sense of tragedy throughout which is underlined by the perfect and appropriately mournful score. The abrupt ending slightly disappoints but this is actually due more to my expectation than to do with the story not concluding. It could have gone on but that is another story and in effect would make this a different film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

beingryanjude

Sep 2, 2014

David Lowery is a fairly unknown writer and director in today's industry. With Ain't Them Bodies Saints, he paints a visually moving series of occurrences. Rooney Mara along with Casey Affleck are tremendous.

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Spangle

Jun 22, 2015

Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a film that establishes director David Lowery as a man to keep an eye on, as he displays incredible talent here in this romantic western drama. Not only is it gorgeously shot and brilliantly put together, but it features great performances from Casey Affleck,Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a film that establishes director David Lowery as a man to keep an eye on, as he displays incredible talent here in this romantic western drama. Not only is it gorgeously shot and brilliantly put together, but it features great performances from Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, and Ben Foster. Very similar to Terrence Malick's films Badlands and Days of Heaven, both stylistically and story-wise, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is nowhere near as good as either of those in terms of pure film quality, but in terms of entertainment, it blows them out of the water. Far more entertaining, though still quite slow and tedious along the way, the film succeeds largely on its mise en scene and acting. The story is a bit weak, though it was told well, but it is never quite compelling as it could be and for an hour and a half, it does plod along a good bit. Not as weak or slow as a Malick film, but still. All the same, this one is a film that shows the potential of its director and showcases the talents of its brilliant cast.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

Thegodfatherson

Aug 23, 2013

David Lowery is the equivalent of a Terrence Malick cover band. He has all the rhythms and notes, but none of the heart and soul. He’s selling nostalgia at the expense of originality. And for some, that might be just enough. But for me, sitting through his aesthetically beguilingDavid Lowery is the equivalent of a Terrence Malick cover band. He has all the rhythms and notes, but none of the heart and soul. He’s selling nostalgia at the expense of originality. And for some, that might be just enough. But for me, sitting through his aesthetically beguiling faux-Western, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints,” merely left me craving an umpteenth look at “Badlands” and “Days of Heaven,” Malick films Lowery obviously suckled as intently as his mama’s breast. He does a superb job at paraphrasing both, from the hazy, dreamlike visuals to the long pauses and dialogue so muted that you often feel like you’re eavesdropping on a conversation in the next room. The characters are pure Malick, too: Young lovers, doomed by restlessness and ennui, running from the law as intently as they’re trying to flee from their consciences. And, just like “Heaven,” a love triangle with an ethereal woman conflicted by her romantic feelings for a good man and his evil-boy rival. Just replace Brooke Adams with Rooney Mara, Sam Shepard with Ben Foster and Richard Gere with Casey Affleck. Or, if you prefer the “Badlands” motif, swap out Mara for Sissy Spacek and Affleck for Martin Sheen. Either way, you come up short. It’s not that their performances are bad; it’s that these consistently fine actors are curiously miscast, beginning with Affleck, who’s too soft-spoken and non-threatening to be taken seriously as a hardened criminal. That’s more Foster’s purview, as he proved so indelibly on “Six Feet Under” and in “310 to Yuma.” As a heroic, big-hearted deputy, he’s just not cutting it. As for Mara, I feared that she might fall asleep at any minute. She certainly doesn’t communicate what it is that drives Affleck’s Bob and Foster’s Will to chase after her Ruth so intently.
It’s not that their performances are bad; it’s that these consistently fine actors are curiously miscast, beginning with Affleck, who’s too soft-spoken and non-threatening to be taken seriously as a hardened criminal. That’s more Foster’s purview, as he proved so indelibly on “Six Feet Under” and in “310 to Yuma.” As a heroic, big-hearted deputy, he’s just not cutting it. As for Mara, I feared that she might fall asleep at any minute. She certainly doesn’t communicate what it is that drives Affleck’s Bob and Foster’s Will to chase after her Ruth so intently. As for the plot, there really isn’t one beyond Bob breaking out of prison (off camera, no doubt due to the expense of shooting such a scene) and taking it on the lam in search of his beloved Ruth and their soon-to-be 4-year-old daughter, Sylvie, whom he has never met. Standing in his way, are three squinty-eyed bounty hunters, Ruth’s father-figure neighbor (Keith Carradine doing his best work in years) and a host of sheriff’s deputies, including Will, who persistently attempts to insinuate himself into the lives of Ruth and her daughter. Beyond that, nothing much happens. But given Lowery’s passion for Malick-esque visuals, it’s hardly a shock that his script is so bare-boned and derivative.… Expand

1 of 2 users found this helpful11

BrianMcCritic

Dec 21, 2013

The film is well made and well acted, but it's just to slow to recommend. The pace of this film makes it real hard to get emotionally invested in any of the characters. C

0 of 1 users found this helpful01

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