Review of Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013) by Thegodfatherson — 22 Aug 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 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.