''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' is a 2013 American
romantic crime
In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definiti ...
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...
written and directed by
David Lowery. The film stars
Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...
as Bob Muldoon,
Rooney Mara as Ruth Guthrie, and
Ben Foster as Patrick Wheeler. Bob (Affleck) and Ruth (Mara) are a couple who become involved in criminal activities and are caught, with Bob taking the blame and going to prison. The film follows the events after the criminal activities as Ruth gives birth to their daughter, and the two live comfortably. When the child is nearly four, Bob escapes from jail and goes looking to reconnect with his family.
The film debuted at the
2013 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Cinematography Award in the U.S. Dramatic Category and got nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. It was selected to compete in the
Critics' Week section at the
2013 Cannes Film Festival
The 66th Cannes Film Festival took place from 15 to 26 May 2013. American filmmaker Steven Spielberg was the Jury President for the main competition. French actress Audrey Tautou hosted the opening and closing ceremonies.
The French film ''Blu ...
. It was released on August 16, 2013, by
IFC Films
Independent Film Company (formerly IFC Films) is an American film production and distribution company based in New York City, New York. It is an offshoot of IFC (U.S. TV channel), IFC, owned by AMC Networks.
It mainly distributes independent fil ...
.
The film received positive reviews overall, with critics praising its original take on the
Bonnie and Clyde archetype, and commending its style and western iconography influences. It garnered numerous critical awards and nominations and was listed in the top ten films of 2013 by many domestic and international film publications, but ultimately under-performed at the box office.
Plot
Ruth Guthrie walks across a field and is followed by Bob Muldoon, who tries to dissuade Ruth from leaving him to return to her mother's. Ruth is adamant and reveals that she is angry because Bob told Freddy that he was going to 'strike out on his own'. Bob says this isn't the case. Ruth reveals she is pregnant, and they reconcile.
Later, Bob and Freddy commit a crime while Ruth waits in the getaway car. The police, including Patrick Wheeler, pursue them to farmhouse. In the ensuing gunfight, Freddy is killed and Ruth shoots Patrick. Bob takes the fall for shooting Patrick and the crime committed earlier so Ruth can avoid jail. Bob and Ruth surrender their weapons. They are apprehended and Bob jailed. Ruth tells Skerrit, Freddy's father, that she is going to wait for Bob. Bob writes several letters from jail, promising Ruth to be back with her and their child. Ruth gives birth to their daughter, Sylvie.
Years pass. Ruth and Sylvie live a normal life in the small town of
Meridian, Texas. Patrick, who does not know it was Ruth that actually shot him, notices Ruth and Sylvie around town, but Ruth avoids any contact with him. One day, Patrick makes a visit to Ruth's residence and tells her that Bob has escaped from prison. The local detective questions Ruth as to Bob's whereabouts, and Ruth tells him that Bob has not come to visit her. Meanwhile, Bob is traversing
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
to escape the authorities. He makes it to Texas and obtains help from his friend Sweetie. Meanwhile, three bounty hunters, led by an individual called Bear, visit Skerrit's hardware store and make general inquiries about the town.
Patrick visits Ruth to return her letters the police looked over after Bob escaped. He tells her that she should move to a safer place, which Ruth takes to mean as until Bob is caught. Bob visits Skerrit at his hardware store, where Skerrit tells him there are many people who want him dead and that Bob needs to stay away from Ruth and Sylvie. Patrick visits Sweetie's establishment, asking if he has seen Bob. As they go upstairs, Bob narrowly escapes but leaves behind a photo of Ruth and Sylvie.
On the day of Sylvie's birthday party, Patrick gives Sylvie a guitar. While talking with Sylvie at the party, Patrick learns that Ruth has been planning a trip with Sylvie. Bob arrives at the house but notices Patrick and subsequently leaves. Bob returns to the original shootout location and encounters the bounty hunters. They shoot at him, and he kills one during a struggle, but he is also seriously wounded. He gets away but is chased by the third. Bob coerces a driver, Will, to drive him back to Ruth's house. Will tries to tell Bob that he should be taken to a hospital but Bob refuses, insisting to be taken to Ruth's house.
Sylvie wakes up to find her mother sleeping on the sofa in Patrick's arms. They are startled by gunshots outside. Patrick runs out to investigate and finds the third bounty hunter in a shootout with Skerrit. Patrick shoots the bounty hunter dead and finds that Skerrit is fatally wounded. Ruth and Sylvie are taken to the police station for questioning and safekeeping. When Patrick returns them to their home, they find the front door open and Patrick goes in to investigate, finding a grievously wounded Bob. Ruth follows Patrick into the house and stops Patrick from approaching Bob. Ruth tends to Bob, and Sylvie enters to see her father dying in the arms of her mother. Patrick takes Sylvie back outside and comforts her, while her parents exchange a few last words.
Cast
*
Rooney Mara as Ruth Guthrie
*
Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...
as Bob Muldoon
*
Ben Foster as Patrick Wheeler
*
Keith Carradine as Skerritt
* Kennadie Smith and Jacklynn Smith as Sylvie Guthrie
*
Nate Parker
Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', ''The Secret Life of Bees (film), The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', Arbitrage (film), ''Arbitrage ...
as "Sweetie"
* Robert Longstreet as "Cowboy Hat"
*
Charles Baker as "Bear"
*
Augustine Frizzell as Sissy
*
Kentucker Audley
Andrew Michael Nenninger (born November 13, 1981), known professionally as Kentucker Audley, is an American filmmaker and actor. He appeared on the 2007 ''Filmmaker Magazine'' list of 25 New Faces of Independent Film. He founded the independent ...
as Freddy
*
David Zellner as Zellner
* Turner Ross as T.C.
*
Rami Malek as Will
* Will Beinbrink as Lieutenant Townes
*
Frank Mosley as Lieutenant Carson
* Steve Corner as Lieutenant Brule
*
Annalee Jefferies
Annalee Jefferies is an American stage actress.
Early years
Jefferies' father was a ranch manager, and her mother was artistically inclined. She lived in Texas her first 11 years, then moved with her family to Australia. They returned to the Un ...
as Mary
* Gwen Waymon as Margaret
* Artist Thornton as Altman
Production
Development
Concept
David Lowery began writing the film in 2009 while on the festival circuit promoting his film ''St. Nick''.
At the time he was only able to think of a concept of a man breaking out of prison.
What attracted him to the story was the thought of writing an action movie after having done a very quiet movie like ''St. Nick''. However, he could not think of a compelling way to tell the story based on the concept so he left it.
Script
Lowery revisited the concept in 2011, where he added more ideas to his original concept. His initial draft took 6 months to write, and he had planned to shoot the film immediately after writing.
However, production was delayed since Lowery and his production partners submitted the script to the Sundance Institute Producing Lab, in early summer 2011. The institute encouraged Lowery to submit the script to their screenwriters lab.
In December 2011, it was revealed that Sundance had selected a screenplay by
David Lowery as one of 12 projects for its annual January Screenwriters Lab.
Lowery worked with the Sundance Lab Artistic Director Scott Frank and his associates to develop the script.

Lowery wanted to capture the feeling of the actions and write a script based on that in the vein of 1960s and 1970s movies and folk songs.
He said specifically that he wanted to "make a movie that felt like a folk song". Working on this concept, he thought about American folk mythology dealing with outlaws, developing into an outlaw who broke out of prison, then set in place the reason for the breakout being his wife and living in Texas he decided the setting would be Texas.
The script's title, which Lowery also chose to evoke the feeling of a folk song, is based on
his mishearing the lyrics of a country song a friend played for him, and is unrelated to the plot or characters.
Financing and initial production
After the initial script had been written, Lowery and his producers had a start date for the production.
But they were advised by producers such as Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen and Amy Kaufman to aim for a bigger production, with Lowery being told "doing the micro budget version is a great plan B, and you know you can do that, but why don't you just spend a little bit of time formulating a new plan A and see if you can make it for just a little bit bigger".
In April 2012, Lowery officially announced that he had written a contemporary story in the vein of
Bonnie and Clyde and that he would direct the film, named ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints''.
James Johnston,
Toby Halbrooks, Amy Kaufman, Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy were announced as the producers, with
WME and WME Global handling representation for the film, and Evolution Independent's
Cassian Elwes handling the financing of the film.
[ Sailor Bear, Parts & Labor, Paradox Entertainment,] Lagniappe Films, and Evolution Independent assumed primary production duties for the film. In July, 2012 it was confirmed that the financing structure had been finalized with Evolution Independent, Paradox Entertainment and Lagniappe.
Pre-production
Casting
Casting began while Lowery was participating in the Sundance Institute Writer Lab sessions in January 2012. The script for the film was being circulated amongst various talent agencies and Lowery was being contacted by Actors and Actresses wanting to audition for the role, two of those actors being Rooney Mara and Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...
. Speaking on the casting of Mara and Affleck, Lowery cited their quality of being 'timeless in their own way' as the main reason he cast them. Lowery cast Ben Foster after having met him, and noted that he felt that Ben's natural qualities were 'exactly what his character needed'.
In April, 2012 Rooney Mara, Ben Foster and Casey Affleck
Casey Affleck (born Caleb Casey McGuire Affleck-Boldt; August 12, 1975) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Casey Affleck, various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film ...
were announced as the principal cast for the film. In July, 2012 it was reported that Nate Parker
Nate Parker (born November 18, 1979) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in ''Beyond the Lights'', ''Red Tails'', ''The Secret Life of Bees (film), The Secret Life of Bees'', ''The Great Debaters'', Arbitrage (film), ''Arbitrage ...
had joined the cast of the film, with no specific details given as to his role. On 24 July 2012 it was announced that Keith Carradine had joined the cast just as principal photography began. In November, 2012 Rami Malek announced on his Facebook page that he would appear in the film as 'Will'. Malek had auditioned for the role of Sweetie, but the role went to Nate Parker, however, Lowery was so impressed with his audition tape he asked him to play a small role at the end of the film. In early December 2012 Charles Baker announced on his Twitter that he would appear in the film
Rooney Mara cited the script as the main reason for why she accepted the role, saying that it "felt right", and Casey Affleck cited his meeting with and instincts about Lowery as a director as the reason he accepted the role. Nate Parker also cited the script as the main reason he joined the cast, describing it as 'raw and emotional', but furthermore went on to state that the opportunity to work with the D.P Bradford Young was also a motivating factor.
Crew
Bradford Young joined the crew of the film after being recommended by one of Lowery's producers who had worked with Young on a film called '' Mother of George''. Lowery familiarized himself with Young's work, describing it as "beautiful and incredibly rich and varied", and immediately set up a meeting, and proceeded to hire Young as the cinematographer for the project as a result of that meeting.
Daniel Hart Joined the crew of the film as the composer in December 2012. This was Hart's first foray into scoring a feature film. Hart had recently worked with Lowery on his 2011 short film ''Pioneer'', and was given the script for Aint Them Bodies Saints in December 2012. Hart cited his previous experience in providing sound for Lowery's 2009 short ''St.Nick'' and 2011's ''Pioneer'' as the reasons for him scoring ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'', as he felt the film was "the right fit for another collaboration".
Craig McKay, who previously edited '' The Silence of the Lambs'' and 1993's ''Philadelphia
Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...
'', joined the crew as an editor, along with Jane Rizzo, who had previously edited the critically acclaimed 2012 film '' Compliance''. Lowery noted that this was the first time he had hired an editor.
Veteran casting director Avy Kaufman and native specialist Texas casting director Vicky Boone handled the casting of the non-main characters in the film. Production designer Jade Healy joined the crew in April 2012. Skywalker Sound handled the sound recording and management of the film.
Filming
Shooting and production schedule
Filming began on July 9, 2012, in Shreveport, Louisiana
Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...
. The main reason for basing the primary filming in Louisiana was 'huge tax incentives' on offer. The rest of the scenes were filmed on location in Meridian, Texas, and Austin, Texas
Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...
. The film was not shot in chronological order but rather in a sequenced manner focusing on each of the primary actors. Affleck filmed his scenes first and then shooting moved to filming the scenes in which Affleck and Mara are together, with Mara's scenes being shot last. The conditions were very hot and humid, reaching 103 degrees most days, which fit with the tone of the movie.
The actors had no traditional rehearsal times, but instead worked using an outline of the script as they filmed. Mara and Affleck did not spend much time shooting together and Mara felt it worked since it fit in with the story of the film since for most of the film Maras's and Affleck's characters do not see each other for a long period of time. Lowery encouraged a collaborative effort in regard to how his actors interpreted the script and the behavior of their characters, as long as it stayed true to their elements. Ben Foster confirmed this approach to the acting for the film, stating that "nothing was nailed down on paper" and that he had to "fill in the cracks" himself before shooting the scenes. In the scenes in which Mara acts as a mother to the two child actresses, Mara took over the direction of their scenes in order to get more authenticity into the scenes.
However, Lowery did not follow the same approach in terms of the camera angles and the shooting frames and positions he would use. Every camera angle and position was chosen and prepared beforehand. Although Lowery has professed his admiration for films that captured random shots and moments of beauty in addition to telling a narrative, he wanted this film to be one that conveyed a message with every shot and where every scene had a significant meaning. The number of takes was limited to four or five per scene.
Filming wrapped up on August 15, 2012.
Visual style and production design
The film was shot on 35mm film using the ARRICAM LT and Panavision XL. Most of the film was shot on Cooke S4 lenses and Low Con 1 and Low Con 2 filters in order to achieve the desired look.[ Cinematographer Bradford Young said he wanted to witness to the film's form take shape instead of having to make it look a certain way in post-production, and felt 35mm allowed him to add the energy of the film into the negative directly.][ The film does not give a time period for its setting, but reviewers have described it as seemingly dating to the 1960s or 70s.]
Lowery did not want to "spoon feed" the audience who would watch the film, as he noted he despises being "spoon fed" himself. Lowery aimed to subtly let the audience know what to pay attention to using visual cues and carefully placed objects.
Lowery and Young encountered problems in acquiring their desired look due to an agreement with their bond company, who wouldn't allow extensive decay on the negative.[ They circumvented the problem by underexposing the film at unconventional levels, and by sliding an ND9 ilterin front of the camera.][ Lowery and Young abided by a strict rule that they would only use we available light from the period of the film, and whatever sources there were, they could not vibrate; they had to burn, which narrowed them down to tungsten/incandescent lights.][
While working on the visual style with Young, Lowery took inspiration from movies such as Vilmos Zsigmond's work on '' McCabe & Mrs. Miller'' and '' Heaven's Gate'', utilizing the effects used to make the images "dirty", as well as Robert Elswit's work on '']There Will Be Blood
''There Will Be Blood'' is a 2007 American epic film, epic historical drama, period drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, loosely based on the 1927 novel ''Oil!'' by Upton Sinclair. It stars Daniel Day-Lewis, Paul Dano, Kev ...
''.[ To guide the darkness of the images they would use, they turned to the work of Harris Savides.][
Lowery worked with Jade Healy to develop the production design for the film. He, Healy, and Young looked over archives of still photos and whittled them away to come up with a specific look and palette for the film.][ Healy had to also work on providing the right lighting for the period the film was in, and would subsequently bring in lamps and lamp shades, warmer or lighter, based on Lowery and Young's tastes.][
]
Post-production
Editing
When editing, Lowery focused on what happened rather than how it happened, considering what's happening in the scene to be more important than how it happened, and choosing the cuts accordingly. Upon commencing the editing process for the film, he found that he already had 80% of the planned shots ready and in sequence but had to reconcile the other 20% that he was unsure of.
Even so, Lowery found the editing phase of the film to be a tough process and more arduous than he had anticipated. Usually a lone editor, Lowery felt the scope of the film required additional editors, and he brought on Craig McKay and Jane Rizzo to work with him. However, he found the experience to be a negative one and stated 'If I could go back again, would I edit the movie myself? Yes I would'.
After the Sundance Film festival screening, the film was further edited upon suggestion by Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein (, ; born March 19, 1952) is an American film producer and convicted sex offender. In 1979, Weinstein and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent ...
, who had acquired the international distribution rights for the film. Lowery has stated that the changes were not foisted upon him, but rather he agreed with them and felt that the pre-Sundance editing process had been too rushed, and went on to say that even so, the film apparently hasn't been drastically reshaped.
Sound and music
Lowery provided the film's script to Hart in the summer of 2012 and discussed the potential soundscape and instrumentation designed for the film. He had a smaller string ensemble designed with low brass and atmospheric drones and wrote a piece for the montage sequence in which Bob goes to prison and Ruth gives birth to their baby. That piece laid the foundation for the score which resulted in the use of strings, brass, mandolin, cimbalom, droning banjo, and percussion. Curtis Heath wrote some the original songs for the score. The score album was released through Lakeshore Records
Lakeshore Village Entertainment, LLC was an American independent film production, finance, and former international sales and distribution company founded in 1994 by Tom Rosenberg and Ted Tannebaum. Lakeshore Entertainment is headquartered in Bev ...
on August 13, 2013.
Distribution and release
Film festival circuit run
''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' had its premiere on the festival circuit on January 20, 2013, at the Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with 423,234 combined in-person and online viewership in 2023.
The festival has acted ...
, where it competed for the US Prizes in the Grand Jury, Audience, Screenwriting, Directing, Cinematography and Editing awards for the dramatic sections of each category. The film went on to be screened at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival
The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world.
Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
during the Critics' Week selection, as well as having a special screening. On May 31, 2013, the film screened at the 2013 Seattle Film Festival. On June 15, 2013, it screened at the Los Angeles Film Festival, followed by successive showings at the BAMCinemaFest on June 19 and at the Provincetown Film Festival on June 20. The final stateside film festival screenings of the film took place on June 30, 2013, at the Nantucket Film Festival and the Maine International Film Festival on July 14, 2013.
The film then started gaining traction on the international film festival stage, having a screening at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival on July 3, 2013. The film then screened at the Munich International Film Festival and then the Jerusalem Film Festival on July 5, where it was screened as a must-see presentation. It then screened at the Deauville American Film Festival
The Deauville American Film Festival () is a yearly film festival devoted to Cinema of the United States, American cinema, which has taken place since 1975 in Deauville, France.
It was established by Lionel Chouchan, André Halimi, and then ...
on 6 September 2013. and the Athens Film Festival on 28 September 2013. The film screened at the Amsterdam Film Week on 29 October 2013, and the Leiden International Film Festival on the 2 November 2013. The final festival showing for the film happened on November 12, 2013, at the Stockholm International Film Festival
The Stockholm International Film Festival () is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year since then during the second half of November, and focuses on emerging and early career fil ...
.
Distribution rights, marketing and theatrical run
On January 24, 2013, it was announced that IFC, Sony Pictures Classics, Roadside Attractions, Bob Berney's revived Picturehouse and Magnolia Pictures were in discussions for the US distribution rights. On January 25 it was announced that Cassian Elwes and WME Global's Graham Taylor and Alexis Garcia closed a deal with IFC Films' Arianna Bocco reportedly worth slightly more than $1 million for the US distribution rights. IFC confirmed on January 25 that they had acquired the North American domestic rights. It was announced that The Weinstein Company
The Weinstein Company, LLC (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film production and distribution company, which was founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein on March 10, 2005. TWC was one of the larg ...
acquired the international distribution rights shortly after.
The film had its domestic limited release in the United States on August 16, 2013, opening in three theatres. At its peak it was showing at 44 theatres in the US. It had its international theatre premiere on September 5, 2013, in Israel, where the name had to be changed to ''Ne'ehavim mi'houtz la'hok'' because of translation issues, shortly followed by the UK and Ireland releases on September 6. The film was released in France on September 28 with the title ''Les amants du Texas'', with the Greece (where again due to title issues it was changed to ''Meine dipla mou'') and the Singapore premieres following on October 24. The Belgium premiere happened on November 6, with the Swedish and Turkish premieres taking place on November 6, where again the names were changed to ''A Texas Love Story'' (in Turkish: ''Ölümsüz Ask''). The film had its final European premieres on 20 March 2014 and 9 May 2014 in the Netherlands and Spain (''En un lugar sin ley''), respectively. The film had its Japan premiere on March 29 and in Brazil (as ''Amor Fora da Lei'') on July 10, 2014.
Reception
Critical reception
The film has received mostly positive reviews, and holds a 78% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
, based on 129 reviews, attaining a score of 7.11/10. The general consensus is "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." Metacritic gave the film a weighted average of 74 out of 100 based on 35 reviews, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.
Positive reviews of the movie commented in particular on its visual qualities. Austin Trunick of ''Under the Radar'' wrote that, "the ilm's beautyis not just in the incredible cinematography ... but in the way the film holds back information, blindsiding you with tiny revelations." Trunick gave the film a score of 9 out of 10, as did Philip Martin of the '' Arkansas Democrat Gazette'', opining that "there are real virtues to this movie; it's remarkably well crafted and beautifully shot ... if it drifts a little too much toward romanticizing its tender outlaws, it's just following in the footsteps of the masters." In a positive review of the film, Todd Jorgenson of ''Cinemalogue'' agreed, stating that "his
His or HIS may refer to:
Computing
* Hightech Information System, a Hong Kong graphics card company
* Honeywell Information Systems
* Hybrid intelligent system
* Microsoft Host Integration Server
Education
* Hangzhou International School, ...
well-acted film is rich in visual texture and subtle details, and its deliberate pace rewards viewer patience." Richard Brody of ''The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' also praised the film's visual style, maintaining that "the feel of the movie is intimate and handmade, as if Lowery were renewing, lovingly and poignantly, the landscape's ruined landmarks and infusing them with his own memories and dreams." Christy Lemire
Christy A. Lemire (née Nemetz; born August 30, 1972) is an American film critic and host of the movie review podcast ''Breakfast All Day''. She previously wrote for the Associated Press from 1999 to 2013, was a co-host of '' Ebert Presents at ...
, writing for '' RogerEbert.com'', also noted the visual style as the main strength of the film commenting, "Lowery takes his time and lets us linger over everything in the meticulously crafted frame: the thoughtful camerawork, the impeccable costume and production design," giving the film 3.5/4.
David Gritten of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...
'' gave the film a 4/5 saying "Lowery has said he wanted ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' to have the quality of an old folk song, something Bob Dylan might once have covered. He's succeeded – and made something affecting and stylish out of a tale with mythic aspirations." Cath Clarke of '' Time Out London'' gave the film a 4/5, commending Maras performance and saying "''Bodies'' gets under your skin and stays there. And the gospel handclapping soundtrack feels like it's drawing you into a dream." Adam Woodward of '' Little White Lies'' focused his praise on the contributions of Bradford Young and Daniel Hart, maintaining that the film " earsits influences on its sleeve ithoutfeeling stale or derivative ... tis an immaculate piece of storytelling that boasts serious talent whichever way you look. Special mention must go to Bradford Young's gorgeous sun-bleached cinematography, which coupled with Daniel Hart's ubiquitous score of nervy, tiptoeing strings and soft handclaps gives the film a dream-like quality." Peter Debruge of '' Variety'' gave the film a positive review, stating that "David Lowery's ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' landed with the excitement of a bold new voice, and yet, there's also something undeniably old-fashioned in his approach, suggesting a lost artifact freshly unearthed from the 1970s."
Lukewarm reviews praised the ambition but questioned the execution and integrity of the film, with Peter Bradshaw
Peter Nicholas Bradshaw (born 19 June 1962) is a British writer and film critic. He has been chief film critic at ''The Guardian'' since 1999, and is a contributing editor at ''Esquire'' magazine.
Early life and education
Bradshaw was educat ...
of ''The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' commenting, "It's a poignant story of sundered love, earnest and intense, without being exactly tragic, and although writer-director David Lowery interestingly refuses certain romantic cliches, you wonder if he knows exactly where he's going with the narrative." The review in the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' was particularly critical of the narrative, stating that "ven
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It comprises an area of , and its popul ...
though Lowery is skillful with dialogue, there are ways he ties the events together that are knotty. The first is the most problematic. Though a natural fall guy is right at their feet, felled by the cops and long past complaining about issues like loyalty and betrayal, Bob grabs the gun that shot the sheriff. Lowery is intent that the couple will grapple with the idea of responsibility, whatever frustrations with logic that might pose for the rest of us." A.A. Dowd of ''The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...
'' gave the film a C+, criticizing Lowery for being too eager to emulate Malick, maintaining that "upstart David Lowery mimics the mythic methodology of his revered elder, drowning the sparse tale of an on-the-run convict and his lonely baby's mama in lots of dreamy, magic-hour atmosphere."
Negative reviews focused on the film's ostensible preference of style over substance, with ''Slant Magazine
''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...
''s Nick McCarthy giving the film a score of 2.5 out of 4, pointing out that "director David Lowery, with the aide of Bradford Young's sublime cinematography, goes to great lengths to stylistically evoke the emotionally complex nature of the characters' forlornness, but the film's highly calculated beauty suffocates rather than elevates the story's emotional underpinnings." He also questioned the portrayal of motherhood in the film, accusing Mara's character of being "uninterestingly flattened into a waiting damsel in distress." In a negative review, A. O. Scott of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' wrote, "Authenticity is rarely a fair standard for judging movies, which always depend on overt and invisible artifice. But this film's longing for just that quality—for a simple, elemental truth that will be both specific to its time and place and ripe with deeper meanings—is precisely what makes it unconvincing." Mick LaSalle of the ''San Francisco Chronicle
The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' accused the film of being self-indulgent, commenting "the tone never changes. Scenes aren't inflected, and when the end comes, it registers, but without much impact. Despite actors like these, who could have taken us anywhere and made us accept almost anything, ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' just drifts off into its own melancholic haze."
Critics drew extensive comparisons to the work of Terrence Malick, with Peter Bradshaw opining that "there's a mix here of early and late Malick, something of ''Badlands
Badlands are a type of dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded."Badlands" in '' Chambers's Encyclopædia''. London: George Newnes, 1961, Vol. 2, p. 47. They are characterized by steep slopes, ...
'' and also '' To the Wonder'': it looks derivative, with the familiar lens flare and sunset wash. But if it is a homage, this is an intelligent and accomplished one, a conscientious matching-up of style and substance.' David Gritten also said the Malick influences worked in the film, commenting "Lowery's opening scenes could even serve as the start of an imagined sequel to Terrence Malick's 1973 classic ''Badlands''. But ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' is no Malick homage. That's a relief: there are quite enough already. Indeed, far from dwelling on transcendence, as Malick does, Lowery's film has a solid, grounded storyline, rooted in crime thrillers and film noir tradition." Lemire also compared him to Malick, in a positive vein, writing that "the comparisons to Terrence Malick are obvious and many—and a well-deserved compliment—for David Lowery's drama ''Ain't Them Bodies Saints''. The setting of 1970s Texas, the impressionistic wisps of memory, the quiet naturalism of warm sunlight and the dusky magic-hour melancholy—they're all there, all those signatures that are reminiscent of the master filmmaker." Some critics were less positively inclined towards the film's intimations of Malick's artistry, with Antonia Quirke
Antonia Quirke is a British film critic. As well as writing on film for the ''Financial Times'' and a weekly column for the ''New Statesman'', she has presented regularly on '' The Film Programme'', '' Pick of the Week'', BBC Radio 4, as well as ' ...
of the ''Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...
'' writing that "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." A. A. Dowd maintained that "Even Malick's lesser works, like this spring's ''To The Wonder'', add up to more than the sum of their lyrical parts. They have big ideas, bigger emotions, and a sense of dramatic urgency—all qualities fatally absent from this well-shot but bloodless crime fable. Lowery, it can't be denied, has Malick's moves down pat. It's the Malick touch that eludes him."
Box office reception
''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' had its US domestic opening on the weekend of 16–18 August 2013 in 3 theatres, where it made $26,419, ranking at number 58 in the Box office charts. At the end of week ending 22 August the film made $40,921, ending 59th on the box office charts. The second week of the film saw a drastic improvement in commercial reception, recording a 147% increase in weekend box office growth of $65,175, ending the week with a 144% overall increase from the opening week, recording a box office return for the week ending 29 August of $100,005, bringing its total theatrical run to $140,926 from 28 theatres and marking its highest domestic box office ranking of 43. The film continued its improving theatrical performance in its third week by opening in 12 extra theatres to make the total 40 theatres, recording $109,209 in box office revenue, an increase of 9.2% on the previous week, bringing he total to $250,135. in the month of September the film commercial performance started to lag, recording less than $140,000 for the month. The domestic theatric run for the film ended on October 3, with total domestic returns of $396,519.
The film's UK opening recorded a $82,190 return, and over the two and half weeks of its theatrical run in the UK it recorded a $192,834 return in total. The film's second largest international returns came in France with $112,671, with the third best performing international territory being Belgium with a return of $33,391. In total the film made $634,724, almost twice its domestic performance.
''Ain't Them Bodies Saints'' ended its theatrical run having accumulated $1,031,243 in box office receipts. With a budget of close to $4 million, the film was a box office disappointment.
Awards
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Ain't Them Bodies Saints
2013 films
2013 crime drama films
2013 independent films
2013 romantic drama films
American crime drama films
American romantic drama films
2010s English-language films
Drama films based on actual events
Films set in Texas
Films shot in Louisiana
Films shot in Texas
American independent films
Sundance Film Festival award–winning films
The Weinstein Company films
IFC Films films
Contemporary Western films
Films directed by David Lowery
Films about bank robbery
Films scored by Daniel Hart (musician)
Romantic crime films
2010s American films
English-language independent films
English-language crime drama films
English-language romantic drama films