Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013)
Average Rating: 7.1/10
Reviews Counted: 101
Fresh: 82 | Rotten: 19
While conventional in plot, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a visually poetic film that pays homage to the New Hollywood directors of the 1970s and promises big things from director David Lowery.
Average Rating: 7/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 26 | Rotten: 7
While conventional in plot, Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a visually poetic film that pays homage to the New Hollywood directors of the 1970s and promises big things from director David Lowery.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.6/5
User Ratings: 5,535
Movie Info
Set against the backdrop of 1970's Texas Hill Country, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS is a romantic American story that follows three characters on various sides of the law - outlaw Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck), his wife Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara), and a local sheriff named Patrick Wheeler (Ben Foster), who gets caught in their crosshairs. The film, which is the second feature from writer-director David Lowery, was developed at the Sundance Institute's Writing and Producing Labs and also stars Nate
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Rooney Mara
Ruth Guthrie -
Ben Foster
Patrick Wheeler -
Keith Carradine
Skerritt -
Kennadie Smith
Sylvie Guthrie -
Jacklynn Smith
Sylvie Guthrie -
Nate Parker
Sweetie -
Robert Longstreet
Cowboy Hat -
Charles Baker
Bear -
Augustine Frizzell
Sissy -
Kentucker Audley
Freddy -
David Zellner
Zellner -
Turner Ross
T.C. -
Rami Malek
Will -
Will Beinbrink
Lt. Townes -
Frank Mosley
Lt. Carson -
Steve Corner
Lt. Brule -
Annalee Jefferies
Mary -
Gwen Waymon
Margaret -
Artist Thornton
Altman -
Richard Jackson
Skerritt's Friend -
Johnny Horn
Stranger -
Heather Kafka
Midwife #1 -
Susy Duggins
Midwife #2 -
Wyatt James Stafford
Bob Muldoon -
ADVERTISEMENT
Ain't Them Bodies Saints Trailer & Photos
All Critics (101) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (82) | Rotten (19)
A slow, banjo-string-tight thriller ... Bodies gets under your skin and stays there.
Top CriticThis Sundance-sanctioned, love-on-the-run melodrama is indie filmmaking of a deliberately timeless sort.
Writer-director David Lowery strains for poetry at every turn, and only the strain registers.
Lowery has a lyrical style of storytelling that is delicate and subtle yet suffused with emotion and atmosphere. It's gentle and pointed at the same time.
It is not a large film. But Lowery may well be a large talent, and he sure knows how to cast the right actors.
Lowery has a way with actors, though. As a local sheriff with an eye for Ruth, Ben Foster is excellent and, in a too-small role as a grizzled shopkeeper, Keith Carradine proves himself yet again to be one of our finest performers.
With a dark, storybook mood set firmly in the mode of Terrence Malick's Badlands, or perhaps even Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James, Lowery flips the Bonnie & Clyde paradigm on its ear.
Armed with blistering performances, an engaging narrative and some stunning cinematography and direction, it may very well end up being one of the best of the year
The well-acted film is rich in visual texture and subtle details, and its deliberate pace rewards viewer patience.
Lyrical reverie of all feeling and no action.
A Bonnie & Clyde-informed tale of passion amid the criminal class, it's a film of considerable visual beauty, even lyricism.
Even during its moments of unapologetic pastiche, David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints is an absorbing drama, nuanced and emotionally evocative.
The film has a dreamlike tone that's very, very sleepy. But it's also haunting and darkly moving.
Not perfect and its dense quality isn't for everyone, but for the things it does right, and the performances it elicits, it's still special.
An outlaw saga of undying love distilled to its emotional essence, as if it were something to be inhaled or applied to the skin, to work at the level of the blood and bypass the cynical defenses of the intellect...
The astute use of folk and bluegrass defines the palette of this film as much as the acting or the cinematography.
Beautifully presented and skillfully acted, "Ain't Them Bodies Saints" is a small, solid drama featuring strong performances and picture post card photography
If you're in the mood to pay homage to the 'new wave' of directors of the 1970s, instead of sitting through the latest in a long line of superhero movie sequels, this should be richly rewarding.
Lowery falls back on a number of clichés in his indie romance-cum-Western, drowning the actors in melancholy sunshine and letting them mumble like mad. What he gets right are the characters.
Lowery focuses on melancholy moods, inner turmoil and the golden glow of cornfields to create an earnest, leisurely tale of lost souls and last chances.
David Lowery's Sundance hit, which wears its Badlands rags unashamedly, plays as if dragged up from the muddy depths of folk memory.
If it is a homage, this is an intelligent and accomplished one, a conscientious matching-up of style and substance.
Plays like a note-perfect Terrence Malick pastiche thanks to assured direction from writer-director David Lowery, though the languid pacing, lack of plot and ill-defined supporting characters are occasionally frustrating.
There is a completely numbing sense that this really is a lost Terrence Malick - that this was done a long time ago, and that cinema's cupboards are empty and there is no new stuff to make in a new way.
Although set in the 1970s, this dramatic thriller has a distinctly Western vibe to it, digging into the darker emotional corners of characters who are trying to make it through life on their own terms.
Lowery's film has a solid, grounded storyline, rooted in crime thrillers and film noir tradition.
Audience Reviews for Ain't Them Bodies Saints
Super Reviewer
fastfilmreviews.wordpress.com
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| MPAA Rating | 1 day ago | 8 |
What's Hot On RT
New Desolation of Smaug trailer!
Naomi Watts is Princess Di
The Hangover 3, The Purge, and More
Trailer for a squirrely heist flick
See what's on TV tonight
Latest News on Ain't Them Bodies Saints
August 15, 2013:
Critics Consensus: Kick-Ass 2 Misses the Target; Lee Daniels' The Butler is Moving and Well-ActedThis week at the movies, we've got teenage superheroes (Kick-Ass 2, starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson...
Fresh Links
Featured
Halloween Movies For Wimps
Scary movies too scary for you? Here are some alternatives for October 31st.
10 Best Superhero TV Shows
HitFix combs through TV history to compile a superpowered list.
Ridiculous Movie Mistakes
RollingStone proves even the best movies miss a details here and there.
Deadly Movie Kids
Moviefone lists 11 Movie Kids Who Could Kick Our Asses.
50 States, 50 Movies
For July 4th, TimeOut has compiled 50 state-specific movie choices.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Featured on RT
- Primetime Preview: Supernatural, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and More 0
- RT on DVD & Blu-Ray: The Hangover Part III, The Purge, and More 11
- Primetime Preview: Beauty and the Beast, Sleepy Hollow and More 0
- NYFF: Joaquin Phoenix and James Gray talk The Immigrant 2
- Box Office Guru Wrapup: Gravity Stuns with Record $55M Launch 80
- Primetime Preview: Witches of East End, Once Upon a Time and More 4
- Weekly Ketchup: Disney Plans Live Action Cruella de Vil Movie 37
Top Headlines
-
Fox Animated Series, ABC Comedies Tumble in Sunday Ratings
0
-
Bong Joon-ho Reportedly "Furious" About Snowpiercer Cuts
0
-
Record-Setting Number of Films Competing in Foreign-Language Oscar Race
0
-
Woody Allen Cancels Blue Jasmine's India Premiere
1
-
Lionsgate Wants Gary Ross and Jennifer Lawrence's Burial Rites
1
-
ABC Plans Kevin Hart-Inspired Series
0
-
The Shining's Danny Torrance Is All Grown Up
1
Foreign Titles
- Les Amants du Texas (FR)
