Subscriptions
RSS
The Savages - A Review
Late in writer/director Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, playwright Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) looks at her brother Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and asks, “Do you think it’s a little self-indulgent?”
As far as this movie goes, the answer is a resounding YES!
Linney and Hoffman play siblings of a dysfunctional and barely communicating family who must suddenly deal with the dementia of their father (Philip Bosco). They go through the traumas common in these situations, from trying to find a nursing home to the preparations for the inevitable end.
The film is TOO DAMN LONG. Nearly every character in the film except Gbenga Akinnagbe as Jimmie is an annoying, self-absorbed prick. Everyone in the film has their indie-film quirks displayed prominently; Jon is a single theater teacher with the requisite books stacked all over his bed, and his sister is the single female playwright with the requisite low self-esteem and bad choices in men.
While I imagine that many of the situations and emotions on display here are common to the ”aging parent” phenomena, everything here is packaged in obviousness and wrapped up in a completely false and “inspirational” ending that betrays the harder lessons the movie wants desperately to mine.
The performances are the only element in the film showing much life. Hoffman is his usual dependable self in an under-written role. He is outdone, however, by Linney, who makes the most of her more complicated role. Bosco manages to convey quite a bit using only his eyes, since his role consists only of fiery outbursts and silence. Among other technical credits, I felt like Jenkins’ direction was choppy, failing to congeal the emotions of the film into a cohesive whole.
A character-driven drama about life and death depends a lot on the characters with whom we are expected to spend two hours. In that case, The Savages lives up to its name with two brutal hours of indie-film torture.
Last 5 posts by Ray
- Why STAR TREK Fails - November 17th, 2008
- Useless Tube - November 17th, 2008
- Hold Me Closer, Tiny Dicker - November 14th, 2008
- What The Deficit Means To You - November 13th, 2008
- Stealing Movies - November 12th, 2008
Comments
One Response to “The Savages - A Review”
Leave a Reply
I thought this might be good, but after reading this I might just skip it. I bet Chris will still see it. He gets a hard on for Philip Seymour Hoffman.