Review of Ain't Them Bodies Saints (2013) by Spencer K — 05 Jan 2014

Ain't Them Bodies Saints is a really great film. It's such a well made, intimate film. And also, a really great thriller/ western like film. There are so many great things about the film that really shine.

It's beautifully filmed, intricately and perfectly plotted, it's visually striking and poetic, and a brilliantly and exceptionally composed film altogether. The acting is brilliant from everybody involved, it's stunningly well directed for a somewhat newcomer, the script is smart and rich in high quality.

The plot, yet very original, did get a bit muddled at times. The acting is brilliant. In my opinion, it's truly Oscar worthy. Rooney Mara, of course, is fantastic. She's of of the most talented and one of the best actresses working in the industry today, and she really shines as her role in this film.

She was casted perfectly well as her character, and she fits it so perfect. I feel as if she was born and raised in the hill country of Texas, she would be exactly like her character in this film. Another great performance in the movie is by Casey Affleck.

He perfectly portrays the character of Bob Muldoon. He really felt the part and he was also casted perfectly well in his role. He may not have been in the film for a long time, but when he was on screen, he definitely stole all of the scenes he was in.

He's a very, very talented actor and he really showed it exceptionally well in this film. I was very pleasantly surprised by his performance and how great he did. Also, Ben Foster did a great job in his role, too.

I'm not entirely sure what else Foster has been in, but he's definitely an actor that I will be looking out for. He played the role as the small town sheriff, perfectly. I feel like he could actually be a sheriff of a real small town, he fits the role so well, haha.

He was casted great, and I don't think they could have gotten anybody better to play his character. The directing is exceptionally great. The director, David Lowery, who I have never heard of before this, surprised me so much on how great of a director he is without even knowing who he was.

And that's real talent. He did an exceptional job at directing this film, and I am now a huge fan of his, and will be very anxious to see what else he can do. I will most definitely be looking out for anything else he will do in the future.

He captured the sprawling, gritty landscape of 70's Texas hill country amazingly well. You really felt there with the actors in this huge landscape. He also did a great job at capturing the raw emotion and romance present in the film, perfectly.

David Lowery is definitely a director to look out for. The script is extremely intelligent, raw, full of emotion, and expertly written. All of the dialogue between characters is rich and very intelligent.

A huge props to whoever wrote this, because it is truly great. I could see an Oscar nominee for Best Original Screenplay. Yes, it's that great. I was so interested in every little line of dialogue spoken, and I didn't want to miss a single word if any of it.

The only problem that I can think of that I had with it was the plot. Yes, it was very original, and something I have never seen before, but it did get a bit jumbled at times. The reason I think so was because a lot of different things were all happening at the same time and when you have something like that, I can completely see how it can get muddled at points.

While yes it was very original and inventive, it was a bit to conventional and jumbled. Yet, I could still overlook the small flaws in the plot and I still very much enjoyed this movie. Ain't Them Bodies Saints is probably one of the best independent film of 2013.

It has amazing acting, spectacular direction, an intelligent script, even if the plot if a bit muddled. A very entertaining, thrilling western that's visually very striking and extremely poetic and beautiful.

Highly recommended.