Senza santi in paradiso

Deeply indebted to Terrence Malick's style. So much so, it never really becomes its own thing (unlike, say, Beasts of the Southern Wild, which had so much of its own energy Malick's name never popped up in my mind until long afterward). Fortunately, the performances in it are so good that it's quite worthwhile. Casey Affleck and Rooney Mara star as a couple who get caught up in criminal activities. The two are caught, Affleck goes to prison and Mara gets acquitted. She gives birth to their daughter, and the two live comfortably under the protection of Keith Carradine and, after a while, a police officer (Ben Foster) who harbors a crush on her. When the child is around 4, Affleck escapes from jail and goes looking for his old girlfriend. All four of the principle actors are fantastic. Mara, whose Oscar nominated performance in The Girl with a Dragon Tattoo is one of the few I've skipped in the last few years (I loathed the Swedish original), has blown me away between this and Side Effects. She is the real deal. Affleck unfortunately never became the huge star he deserved to be after The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (that was six years ago!). I really wish his brother Ben would've cast him instead of himself in his last two films (it's one of the reasons that, in my opinion, Gone Baby Gone remains Ben Affleck's best film as a director). Foster, too, deserves to be a bigger star, with Oscar caliber performances in The Messenger and 3:10 to Yuma. I wish the film were a bit more original, but the acting really does sell it.

What is it about the Deep South that's so evocative in cinema? Maybe it's the timelessness. Ain't Them Bodies Saints could be set at any time during the past forty years. The sun seems forever rising or setting in this region, and filmmakers can't help but point their lens in its direction, silhouetting their beautiful actors. Terrence Malick has a lot to answer for.

It's hard not to think of Malick's first film, Badlands, when watching this. The story concerns a couple of young Texan criminals, painfully in love. When Ruth (Rooney Mara) shoots policeman Patrick (Ben Foster), her lover Bob (Casey Affleck) takes the blame and goes to jail. Bob promises he'll come for Ruth, and duly escapes incarceration. Meanwhile, Patrick is making moves on Ruth, oblivious to her guilt. All of this is under the wise, watchful eye of Skerritt, played wonderfully by Keith Carradine. As Bob closes in on Ruth, the cops and the gangsters close in on Bob.

There are times during Ain't Them Bodies Saints when writer-director David Lowery's style and technique comes across as mimicry, of Malick and also of Jeff Nichols, as well as countless American movies from the 1970s. Thankfully, he also has an interesting story to tell, and it is one presented with rich textures. At times the film flows like a visual poem, with Bradford Young's evocative cinematography melding perfectly with Daniel Hart's stirring music. The effect is of something exquisitely handmade.

Affleck's mumbled delivery here exudes danger; he's mythologising himself in the same way he once mythologised Jesse James. Mara is sentimentalised as the angelic mother, but Lowery is wise enough to suggest that this comely vulnerability is an act also - a sophisticated defence against hard men secretly seeking softness.

Perhaps the film veers too closely at times toward stylish vagueness and too far from the broken heart of the story. But there is no denying this is a serious, authored work of art.

Enjoyed "Ain't Them Bodies Saints". Good story which needs some touching up, but the acting is first rate. It is a character study, a study in melancholy told in real, human terms and not in movie terms. And maybe that is its only flaw, that truth be told, real life is less dramatic and more grimy than make-believe. Briefly, he is a crook, she is his wife/girl (it's not explained) and the two are caught in a shoot-out with police. She fires a gun wildly out a window and accidentally hits a policeman. He takes the rap, goes to jail, she has a baby and waits for him to come back.

The nominal star, at least when the movie credits rolled, is Casey Affleck, but the real star is Rooney Mara, who is excellent as the single mom waiting for Affleck. It is an earthy, sensitive portrayal of a distrustful woman on the defensive. She has made great strides since "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo", a one-dimensional performance. The raw-boned Affleck plays tougher than he looks and underplays his role here. Keith Carradine was a surprise in a strong supporting role.

In my opinion the picture could use two things; tightening up and punching up. There are some dead spots throughout and the film seems longer than 105 minutes, although, as I said, real life is not always supercharged. But there must be a middle ground or else the narrative becomes sluggish. Also, no explanation was given for the 3 strangers in town. Were they Magi? The Three Stooges? We are left to wonder, and director Lowery should have given us more information in this instance.

It is very worth seeing and brightens a dreary summer full of sequels and explosion movies. If you are seeking respite from the likes of "Smurfs 2", go see this one. It's for grown ups.

David Lowery has constructed a beautiful, atmospheric, little indie film with this 1970's Texas crime melodrama. At every point where Lowery could have added Hollywood flourishes and gimmicks to make the film more commercial he refuses to do so. The result is a thin crime & punishment type plot that functions as a canvas for this tone poem about passion and tragedy. I don't know if I could say there's anything ultimately redemptive about these sad, doomed characters but perhaps it's enough to say that they possess a degree of humanity that makes us pity them for the choices they've made. This is another triumph for Rooney Mara who is excellent as a strong, young woman who desires a better life and a man who can't get it for her. There's great irony in the way events turn out for her and it's all totally believable. I was also impressed with Casey Affleck's performance as her lover and small time criminal. In supporting roles there's Nate Parker as a friend of Affleck; Ben Foster's sympathetic police officer and Keith Carradine soaring as a town elder and father figure to Rooney and Affleck. "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" is a great looking picture and Bradford Young deserves all the praise he has earned for his cinematography.

Caught this at Sundance where the buzz surrounding it was pretty high. Did it live up to the hype? Yes and No.

As almost every reviewer has noted, it is a return to the Terrance Malick/Robert Altman-style outlaw lovers films of the 70s. Lots of long lingering visuals of country places and lots of deeply-felt brooding by the main characters. Not bad for that kind of film, but frankly nothing to write home about.

The three leads are very good, as is Keith Carradine. The music and photography are great (though I think there is an over abundance of mid and close shots in a film that screams out for long deep focus photography). Yet, somehow, it doesn't quite jell. A lot of this could be due to its slow pace. Another element may be the reluctance of the writer/director to dole out plot points (you know, like when someone reads an important letter, but we don't find out what is inside until 15 minutes later).

All in all, it is fairly good for what it is. I am sure it will garner positive response from critics. Still, somehow the whole is less than the sum of its parts.