Amor Fora da Lei

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.

I don't think this is a great film, merely a good one, but it's still one where your anticipation for the next thing the director does is heightened. The directing has a poetic, lyrical beauty to it. This may sound clichéd, but yes, it's very "Malick-y" at times. It's overall a very solid flick, with some strong performances. Mara, Foster, Carradine are all pretty good, but Casey Affleck stands out amongst them. Not a surprise perhaps, seeing as how I consider his performance in Jesse James to be the finest I've ever seen, but there's a raw naturality to how he carries his character. It's all incredibly realized from the inside, and he comes across with the most charisma.

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.

At his televised 80th birthday celebrations, the esteemed British director Sir David Lean had a message to young, budding film-makers: Listen to us; learn from us. Then do your own thing.

Debutant writer-director David Lowery has clearly been influenced by the American New Wave directors of the 1970s. And then done his own thing.

Ain't Them Bodies Saints follows the relationship of Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and his partner Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara). Besieged by local Police at an isolated farmhouse, the pregnant Ruth injures an officer in the shoot out. Bob Muldoon takes the rap for this crime and is incarcerated for a long stretch. Several years later, he affects an escape from the prison in which he is held and makes his way back to his home town in rural Texas.

There is very little back-story or explanation of events in this atmospheric film. This appeared to be a deliberate ploy by Lowery. Like the Curate's egg, it was good in parts . But ultimately it left too much of the plot inchoate: who were the three men hunting down Muldoon? Bounty hunters? Erstwhile partners in crime? We weren't privy to their motives and this detracted from the narrative. This was but one example. The very title of the film is also rather enigmatic and might lead some to believe the film is more bloodthirsty than it actually is.

Casey Affleck, who has enjoyed something of a patchy and sporadic acting career to date, is perfectly cast as Muldoon. As he showed in his Oscar-nominated performance in The Assassination of the Outlaw Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Affleck has a great ability to convey a threat of violence without displaying any physical intimidation. He does so again in this film exuding a latent and uneasy menace. Hopefully this role will prove a springboard for Affleck and give him some momentum – he has good screen presence.

There was also a strong performance from Rooney Mara and support from Ben Foster and Keith Carradine.

The cinematography was, on the whole, superb. Long linking shots in subdued colour gave a great feel for the small town Texan setting amidst arable farmland. The wonky camera shots for the close ups we can put down to current, hopefully soon obsolete, fashion.

And if the pacing was a little on the slow side at times, well David Lowery is still learning his craft.

This is a very promising debut from a rookie director. He is one to watch.