Ain't Them Bodies Saints

Marked by ostentatiously artsy visuals, cruelly deliberate pacing, and far more concern for mood than narrative coherence, filmmaker David Lowery's sophomore effort tries to mimic the style of later Terrence Malick and unfortunately succeeds. Basically a tale of doomed young love, the story opens in small-town Texas, where robbers Bob (Casey Affleck) and Ruth (Rooney Mara) are captured following a shootout at a ramshackle farmhouse, during which Deputy Wheeler (Ben Foster) is wounded in an exchange of gunfire. Bob takes the rap and is sent off to prison, while Ruth gives birth to Bob's daughter and raises her under the watchful, caring eyes of the recovered cop and an elderly storeowner (Keith Carradine). After a few years, Bob breaks out and makes his way back to town, but three men show up gunning for him. Although this much of the tale is relatively clear, Lowery deliberately leaves many plot points obscure and unexplained. And while there's no denying that the filmmaker has true cinematic vision, his unfortunate tendency to opt for self-conscious poeticism over clear storytelling results in a movie that often looks lovely, but doesn't make much sense. Not a necessary purchase. (F. Swietek)