Much like big brother Ben reinvented himself with his directorial debut in Gone Baby Gone, so too Casey Affleck went from one half of that goofy duo in Ocean’s Eleven to an actor to really keep an eye on. Rooney Mara also had one role catapult her to the big leagues, but she needed to become a metal detector’s worst nightmare to do it.
And now these two rising stars, will be rising together as outlaw star-crossed lovers in writer-director David Lowery’s sumptuous looking Ain’t Them Bodies Saints
Bob Muldoon (Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara), an impassioned young outlaw couple on an extended crime spree, are finally apprehended by lawmen after a shootout in the Texas hills. Although Ruth wounds a local officer, Bob takes the blame. But four years later, Bob escapes from prison and sets out to find Ruth and their daughter, born during his incarceration. Set against the backdrop of 1970’s Texas Hill Country, director David Lowery paints a poetic picture, evoking the mythology of westerns and saturating the dramatic space with an aching sense of loss. Featuring powerful performances by Affleck, Mara as well as Ben Foster and Keith Carradine, “Ain’t Them Bodies Saints” is a story of love, motherhood, and searching for peace while faced with an unrelenting past.
The film has been gaining some pretty positive buzz over on the festival circuit, particularly at Cannes, with many people comparing newcomer David Lowery to acclaimed auteur Terence Malick, due to his use of almost poetic imagery, but far more accessible. So no, don’t expect to suddenly find the scene cutting away from Affleck and Mara to watch dinosaurs being born.
Ain’t Them Bodies Saints will be riding into cinemas on August 16, 2013.
Last Updated: May 27, 2013
