The Savages

Description

Academy Award winnerÂ(r) Philip Seymour Hoffman* and Academy AwardÂ(r) nominee Laura Linney** deliver unforgettable performances in this hilarious coming-of-middle age story from OscarÂ(r) -nominated writer / director Tamara Jenkins***. Until recently, all John and Wendy Savage (Hoffman, Linney) had in common were a lousy childhood and a few strands of DNA. But after years of drifting apart, they're forced to band together to care for the elderly, cantankerous father who made their formative "challenging." In the process, both of these aimless, perpetually adolescent fortysomethings may just, at long last, have to grow up! *2005: Best Actor, Capote **2007: Best Actress, The Savages; 2004 Best Supporting Actress, Kinsey; 2000: Best Actress, You Can Count on Me. ***2007: Best Original Screenplay, The Savages.

Amazon.com

It's almost impossible to describe The Savages in a way that makes it sound as richly engaging and enjoyable as it is. The story sounds bleak: Two unhappy siblings--Wendy (Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me) and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote)--are forced to grapple with their dying father (Philip Bosco, Damages) as he slips into dementia. But this spare outline doesn't capture the wealth of human detail that the script and performances contain. Linney and Hoffman vividly portray the sort of cluttered, precarious relationship that brothers and sisters can have, thick with past grievances but also unspoken affections and connections that can't even be articulated. As Wendy and Jon struggle to make some kind of peace with their difficult father, watching these wonderfully understated yet compelling actors is a pleasure unto itself. But the script and direction deserve these actors; filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) finds honest emotion and sly, sideways humor in the starkness of mortality. She doesn't force any easy epiphanies on her story, but lets the characters find solace through their own clumsy efforts. Anyone who appreciates the messiness of humanity--the territory that Hollywood movies seem to have surrendered to smart indie films like The Squid and the Whale, Little Children, or The Good Girl--will find The Savages a smart, genuine, and empathic portrait of life. --Bret Fetzer

Beyond The Savages