AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS (2013)

In the same gritty, realistic style that made 1967's Bonnie and Clyde a film where you grew to care for two of the most notorious gangsters in American history, David Lowery's Ain't Them Bodies Saints turns the same soulful eye on the lives of Bob Muldoon (a beautifully understated Casey Affleck) and Ruth Guthrie (Rooney Mara) in 1970's Texas.  Small-time crooks caught up in a shootout, when a pregnant Ruth shoots a deputy it's Bob who takes the blame, going to prison to spare her the ordeal.  Years later, when Bob breaks out and starts out across Texas to reunite with Ruth and a daughter he's never known, he's determined to put things back the way they were - as Ruth (who only wants a better life for herself and her daughter) questions whether they can have that again ... or if she even wants it.  The cinematography here is gorgeous, tone somber but nonetheless involving due to the great sympathy you will have for these characters - the unquenchable desire to see everything turn out okay for them, even when that seems impossible. (rated R)  ****1/2

AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS trailer