The Savages
Tamara Jenkins has a flair for family dysfunction. As a follow-up to "Slums of Beverly Hills", Jenkins writes and directs "The Savages", an insightful story of a brother and sister coping with their father’s onset of dementia and forced home evacuation in the midst of their own mid-life crisis.
"The Savages" is worth seeing for the exceptional performances by these actors. I think Laura Linney can expect an Oscar nomination for this one. But afterwards you might wish you had some of Wendy’s happy pills to get you through the depression. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
2007
Rated R
Rated R
Director: Tamara Jenkins
Cast: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Tamara Jenkins has a flair for family dysfunction. As a follow-up to "Slums of Beverly Hills", Jenkins writes and directs "The Savages", an insightful story of a brother and sister coping with their father’s onset of dementia and forced home evacuation in the midst of their own mid-life crisis.
"The Savages" is a character driven story featuring poignant performances from Tony Award nominee, Philip Bosco, Academy Award nominee, Laura Linney, and Academy Award winner, Philip Seymour Hoffman. The acting is superb and draws the audience right into the forlorn worlds of each character. Linney plays a self-loathing playwright with an inordinate fondness of prescription drugs. Hoffman plays her brother, a theater professor in an uncertain relationship with his Polish girlfriend whose visa is about to expire. The estranged siblings are forced to reconnect with each other and with their dying father as he suffers the indignities of Alzheimer’s and life in a nursing home. Peter Friedman was also notable as Linney’s smarmy, married lover.
The soundtrack was enjoyable and underscored the cinematography perfectly. It reminded me of the score in from "Being John Malkovich". But the hand-held camera action was jerky and distracting in places. The trailer was misleading, marketing this film as a comedy. It is much more of a melodrama. But Jenkins adds in just the right amount of comedic levity to offset the serious subject matter. My biggest complaint was that "Savages" dragged on way too long and was full of clichés. The movie is less than two hours but it feels like it goes on for three or more. It starts to repeat itself within 30 minutes. A bit more editing of the unnecessary dialogue scenes would have been an improvement. (one of the pitfalls of being both writer and director)
"The Savages" is worth seeing for the exceptional performances by these actors. I think Laura Linney can expect an Oscar nomination for this one. But afterwards you might wish you had some of Wendy’s happy pills to get you through the depression. I give it 3.5 out of 5 stars.
Awesome review!!!