THE SAVAGES
Illuminating A Dimly-Lit Family When Death Is Dancing At Its Heels, Keeping One Of Its Abusers Company
PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "The Savages"
By Omar P.L. Moore/November 28, 2007
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Jon and Laura Linney as Wendy, quarrelsome siblings
who have to take care of a father who cared little for them, in Tamara Jenkins'
gem "The Savages", which opened today in North America. (Photo: Fox
Searchlight Pictures)
Maybe The Savages died a long time ago. They could just
be a figment of your imagination, or even their own. After all, who would
want to take membership in a family like this?
Director Tamara Jenkins does.
Her willingness to do so is coupled with the appetite of actors Laura Linney and
Philip Seymour Hoffman to do the same and the result is "The Savages", a
charming and effective satire that cuts to the core with laughter at many of its
most uncomfortable junctures. If one famous beer years ago was said to get
to the parts other beers could not reach, then Ms. Jenkins' film gets to the
nitty-gritty of discordant family, in this case one with an underbelly full of
the stench of years of rotten eggs. In name and nature this film title's
family and the film itself are savage and unsparing, appropriately so within the
narrative of who these dysfunctional souls are. The film opened today in
numerous cities in the U.S. and Canada.
Ms. Linney, who plays one of the most blissfully unaware characters in her film
repertoire, is Wendy, a self-delusional sort whose talisman is pathological
liar. (She does write too, you know. She even won a Peabody or
Pulitzer, or whatever that award is. At least that's what she'll tell
you.) Wendy is working or barely so, but it appears that years of the
family treatment have left her barely functioning with the reality needed to
cope in the real world. Relationships aren't her strong suit, and the
wrong ones might even be the best ones for her. Mr. Hoffman is Wendy's
brother Jon, a detached, self-absorbed slob (fractionally more tuned in here
than in "Happiness",) and he too writes when he doesn't lie, except he is
particularly unconcerned about the elephant in the room, which "The Savages"
places so delicately in its two-hour view, the legendary Philip Bosco, who plays
ailing father Savage. Mr. Bosco is sterling here for the time he is on
screen as Lenny, the dad whose ways have come home to roost. There is one scene
which demonstrates this beautifully, with maximum subtlety for effect, and it is
the one time where the film takes a departure from its scathing tone and wicked
ways. In the scene, Mr. Bosco doesn't say a word, but his offspring make
up for it with a soundtrack that he has architected and perfected over the
years. The confluence of these three New York stage-trained actors in this
specific scene is terrific.
Death is waiting patiently for Mr. Bosco's character to come home, and while it
does, Wendy and Jon stumble around Arizona and elsewhere trying to place this
abusive cad into an assisted living facility Ms. Jenkins treats the
subject of hospice care with sensitivity but applies the lacerating edges that
gives "The Savages" its potency and lifeblood. Boldness is a strong suit
for the director with this film, which she also wrote, and its situations are
replete with unapologetic angst, comedy, crudeness and misfires. The
strength of the film isn't in its ability to shock -- it does so quite brazenly
-- it is in its ability to surprise. A film dealing with such a sensitive
subject as what to do with a parent (not to mention an abusive one) who has
treated his kids badly in life when that parent is at death's door, could have
played it safe, turning the subject into a weep-fest one might expect from
"Steel Magnolias" (whose director Herbert Ross was abusive as a filmmaker to
several of its stars, according to some of the film's cast members), but Ms.
Jenkins goes the other way, unbridled and unbounded, giving the actors free
reign to take these characters wherever they feel like going.
Linney excels as Wendy, and could find herself on the Oscar nominees shortlist
as a person whose core has been lost somewhere on the highway to Winslow,
Arizona that The Eagles talked about in their song "Take It Easy" years in the
past. As empty as Wendy is inside, she never seems to hit bottom, and Ms.
Linney keeps moving relentlessly, and the director and her film follows suit.
Mr. Hoffman muffles himself as Jon, choosing to relegate life into its most
essential purpose: Jon. His character has been taking a family vacation
from the family, which he has long since left. One of the treats of the
film is to watch Linney and Hoffman exist comfortably and uncomfortably
together, spawning the tension that the film also showcases so expertly.
Mr. Bosco spins his magic in a film where every performance is high quality.
"The Savages" is a winner, making more manure than hay out of such an
uncomfortable experience, but then Ms. Jenkins never promises the audience hay,
or a rose garden for that matter.
"The Savages" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association
of America for some sexuality and language. The film's duration is one
hour and 53 minutes.
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