The Savages Reviews

• Capturing the Drama of Our Everyday Simple Existence

  
  By A328S9RN3U5M68 on 2008-04-24
  How we all come to grips with our mortality is often previewed in how we manage the care of our elders. When that elder care is focused on a parent, as it is in Tamara Jenkins's brilliant film THE SAVAGES, it not only strikes chords with individual philosophies, but is also reveals the intricacies of family relationships that come into play in coping with the final days of a parent's life. Though there is little story to this film, this is a character study about isolation, loneliness, and need that will touch the hearts of sensitive viewers.
  
  Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) is a frustrated unpublished playwright working as a temp, a bright woman whose insecurities limit her emotional activity to an affair with a 'safe' married man Larry (Peter Friedman). Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman), her older brother, is a professor of philosophy who is writing a book on the theater of the absurd of Bertolt Brecht while living in Buffalo with a Polish woman, Kasia (Cara Seymour), who, because Jon does not wish to commit to marriage, is forcing his only emotional tie to return to Poland when her Visa expires. Wendy and Jon were deserted by their mother at an early age, left in the care of their abusive father Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco), and both siblings have distanced themselves from their father now living in Sun City, Arizona with his girlfriend of twenty years. Lenny's girlfriend dies and the signs of Lenny's rapidly encroaching dementia force Wendy and Jon to fly to Arizona to 'make arrangements' for their demented father. Coming together under duress the two siblings are forced to confront their own frustrations together with the realities of placing Lenny in a nursing home. Lenny is moved from Arizona to Buffalo, NY and the manner in which Jon and Wendy cope with the new 'family' arrangement raises problems of guilt, memories of their childhood, resentment, and ultimately the manner in which they continue with their lives.
  
  The film could have easily become a diatribe against current nursing home conditions, but instead Jenkins through her superb script and direction levels the playing field, allowing the family frustrations to play out in equal time with the vantage point of the caregivers (well played by David Zayas, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Margo Martindale, Tonye Patano, Nancy Lenehan, Tijuana Ricks, and others). But the real power of this film comes from the bravura performances by Linney, Hoffman, and Bosco. These three actors can do more with silences and facial and body expressions that just about anyone on the screens today. Watching these gifted actors at their trade makes for a stunning film experience and one that shakes us all a bit to think about things we don't wish to consider - death, care of the elderly, and finding life in a world that usually runs a bit on the crazy side. Another quality aspect of this film is the quiet, mood enhancing musical score by Stephen Trask, who manages to combine childlike songs with simple line piano music to underscore the intimate moods of the story. Highly recommended. Grady Harp, April 08
  
  

• Born to be savage: a life time penalty

  
  By A3NH7PYU4AD5GA on 2008-05-03
  The film handles brillantly a common challenge that many of us have to face: what to do with a demented parent.
  The general problem is generic, the individual circumstances vary according to our situation in life. Money helps. A functional family life helps. Benevolent geography helps.
  Linney and Hoffman are among the best contemporary actors, and they give us two people with enough problems of their own, who didn't need a demented father dropping from the sky on them, which happens due to the death of his life partner. They are siblings from a 'dysfunctional' family, the father had disappeared from their life for 20 years, he is remembered as unloving and abusive, and he does behave in a way that one would not want to meet him in real life. His 'kids' are struggling middle aged intellectuals, with pityful emotional lives, but still hopeful for improvement. (You get to hear Hoffman sing a Brecht song in German; consider this a bonus.)
  Some underdeveloped mind had classified this film as a 'comedy'. That was what we expected when we started watching the film, but we soon realized how far off that label is. I mention this because it gives a good contrast to one of the strong features of the film and of its characters: there is a sense of humor in the midst of sadness. The Savages definitely would have deserved at least 2 acting award nominations at the last Oscars.
  
  

• "We're taking better care of the old man than he ever did of us."

  
  By AC1K4OQOZ90RS on 2007-12-04
  Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman shine is the seriocomic film, "The Savages," written and directed by Tamara Jenkins. Linney is Wendy Savage, a thirty-nine year old office temp and aspiring playwright. Hoffman plays forty-two year old Jon Savage, a theater professor in Buffalo who specializes in the works of Berthold Brecht. Neither Jon nor Wendy is particularly successful, although Jon does have a steady job and is working on a book. Both have managed to make a mess of their personal lives. Jon has a Polish girlfriend who is about to return to her country; he loves her but cannot make a permanent commitment. Wendy settles for quick and humiliating liaisons with a married man, instead of seeking a long-term relationship with someone who is free to give her the love that she craves.
  
  The siblings have never been particularly close, but they are reluctantly thrown together when their elderly father, Leonard Savage, is ejected from the Sun City, Arizona retirement home where he sponged off his girlfriend for years. Leonard is becoming forgetful and agitated, and the two younger Savages must decide what to do for a father who abused and neglected them. Jon dutifully arranges for Leonard to be placed in a decent enough facility in Buffalo, but Wendy is so upset by her father's decline that she unfairly lashes out at her brother. As the weeks pass, the two try to put their rancor aside and begin to empathize with one another. They also start to realize that there is a statute of limitations on blaming your parents for everything that is wrong with your life.
  
  Tamara Jenkins nicely balances humor and poignancy in a film that is moving but never schmaltzy. The veteran actors include Philip Bosco, as the angry and confused Leonard Savage, a man who furiously rails against the dying of the light. Although he barely knows his children, he knows that he doesn't much care for them. Hoffman embodies the scruffy intellectual who is more expert in German theater than he is in interpersonal relationships. Linney delivers a beautifully nuanced performance as an insecure woman who is so out of touch with her feelings that, at times, she can barely think straight; her tirades try the patience of her long-suffering brother as well as of the nursing home staff. The fine supporting cast includes Peter Friedman as Wendy's irritating lover and Gbenga Akinnagbe, a compassionate orderly who does what he can to boost Wendy's self-confidence. The sole false note comes at the end, which is a bit too neat considering what has gone before. However, "The Savages" is worth seeing for its understated satirical humor, outstanding performances, and unflinching depiction of the horrors of old age.
  
  
  
  

• I HAD to write a review of a film that resonated so deeply for me

  
  By A1ER5AYS3FQ9O3 on 2008-04-22
  This would have been a 5 star movie if not for the ending. Even so, I would urge you to see it. They got so much right, even perfect, in MOST parts of this film. I was waiting for the DVD to come out and I ordered it (as of this review, it has not arrived but I've seen this one already)
  
  UPDATE: Having now gone through the additional and special features on the DVD, I also wanted to say that they are not just simple "add ons" but help add perspective to this film. The actors speak about the fact the complexities of family relationships and Seymour-Hoffman adds his take (which can also be seen here on Amazon's own snippet from the film for now) that it isn't normal for children to be estranged from a parent. In this case, the children of a very difficult father are alienated from him.
  
  The film struck home for me because I'm helping to care for two relatives, both elderly, one in a nursing home. Trust me, I know authenticity when it comes to catching the dynamics of family relationships, dealing with an elderly parent and all the issues that come into play. Even in the best of situations, there are tough days. Aging can go down hard and mental and physical decline, as portrayed so aptly in this film, isn't easy to watch.
  
  Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are also excellent as brother and sister who have their own struggles with facing reality and dealing with an imperfect father. They have their own flawed and difficult lives and then, suddenly, they have total responsibility for their father, who is left without the girlfriend or backup support that the siblings thought was there. Now what?
  
  That is the plot, in short. Hoffman manages to be clumsy but engaging, a trait he seems to have made into an art form in many films. In this one, he and his sister (Linney) have both tension and a bond between them. I could feel their pain when they were together and Linney's judgment of her brother's lifestyle...and yet they had to find a way to get through the situation with their father as well, however awkward that might be.
  
  Of the two, Linney is the one who tries to be the "pleaser" and fix things. She goes through bouts of denial while her brother is less apt to turn away from reality. Yet Linney also seems to have more sympathy at times. Both Seymour-Hoffman and Linney work so well together, seeming perfectly believable as two very opposite sibling, both damaged by a very flawed parent. Now they have to care for that parent.
  
  Everything seemed so real to me. I'd been in similar situations, faced with unexpected crisis. I know that "bumbling through" is sometimes the best we can do, although there are those of us who step up to the plate with grace, tact and composure at all times. This is a film for the rest of us.
  
  Partly, I guess, this movie was about having to grow up, in spite of oneself. I am still struggling to be articulate about it because it pulled at me so strongly that it is hard to be objective - or anything approaching it. I simply loved this movie! It is, however, VERY slow-paced and the drama may not appeal to those who want something less real. It isn't really a feel good, escapist movie. It could even be called depressing by some, although I felt inspired by it, like someone understood the particular difficulty of dealing with an aged parent.
  
  Also, Linney and Hoffman aren't schmaltzy. If you want to know if this film is for you, consider it a "slice of life" film about two people who have to handle a father's physical and emotional decline, senility and all that. If that doesn't sound appealing to you, by all means avoid it.
  
  However, this film made me think about aging - and I had already thought about it plenty (or so I believed). It gave me new perspective on sibling relationships, flawed parents and it also was a very engaging film, in its own niche area.
  
  I enjoyed the film immensely, with the exception of the ending - and I have to be honest about that, so there it is. It isn't nearly as dark as my outline of it may make it sound. There are quirky moments and humorous ones.
  
  I do agree with the reviewer who noted that people who like films like The Good Girl and Little Children may also like this one. I like those types of films and am constantly intrigued by they psychological oddities of the human character. This film explores that territory, with a story line involving two siblings and an aging parent. Because so many Baby Boomers are both aging and handling elderly parents, this is a theme that deserves plenty of attention. I'm glad this film explores the subject.
  
  

• Two Oscar-worthy performances and a thoughtful script!

  
  By A2R1HAXRNU0QX7 on 2008-03-13
  Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney give us a pair of performances right out of their standard playbooks...and the remarkable thing is that they both work so well. Hoffman's slobby demeanor, unshaven face, red eyes and a delivery so bored you can tell it just feels like his character can barely stand the idea of talking are nothing new...but they are still effective. Linney gives another over-energized, on-the-edge but super intelligent performance...again, nothing new...but still very welcome.
  
  These two play siblings of the Savage family, who, while not exactly estranged, probably aren't spending much time with each other either. Hoffman is a Brecht scholar and professor in Buffalo, and Linney works as a temp in NYC, while waiting for a grant that will allow her to pursue her dreams of playwrighting. They are brought together when they have to bring their father (Philip Bosco) back to New York after his long-time girlfriend dies. Dad is suffering from early stages of dementia and has other ailments, so Hoffman persuades Linney that the only place for dad is a nursing home.
  
  I fully expected this movie to be an indictment against our treatment of the elderly, or one of those family dramas where everyone yells at each other all the time. Instead, the siblings are mostly uncomfortable with each other. Each is in the end-stages of relationships and neither feels comfortable sharing much about their personal lives. They agree to live together for a little while, so they can trade off looking in on dad. The movie mostly explores their brittle relationship with each other. Dad clearly wasn't much in the parenting department, and no doubt his kids owe a lot of their failures and foibles to that fact...but Dad is now mostly a non-entity. He sometimes recognizes them, and sometimes he resists efforts to move him or change his clothes...but mostly he is lost and passive. He's hardly the man they both grew to dislike...he's mostly an obligation. To the credit of the brother and sister, they never argue over who will "take care of dad" or spout clichés like "you're getting off easy." They both understand that this burden has fallen to them, and while not happy about, they will handle it.
  
  Hoffman is more practical. He finds Dad a nursing home near his house. It's got a plain exterior and feels like a hospital. They take medicare and can provide for dad. (In fact, I really enjoyed the fact that this home, while still somewhat depressing, actually cared for its patients, treated them with respect and didn't generate any enmity from the audience.) To Hoffman, the place is fine. Linney wants dad somewhere "nicer," preferably a place in Vermont. She is somewhat driven to find her dad a nicer spot...probably out of some misplaced guilt.
  
  Not a lot happens in this film. Director and writer Tamara Jenkins is very blessed to have these two great actors, because they make all their interactions crackle with wit, sadness and believability. They love each other...but not in a way that gives them much joy. They are siblings who share little beyond an appreciation for theatre and a dieing father. Yet in many ways, the movie shows them jockeying for the approval of the other. Linney wants to be successful in her brother's eyes, because she thinks he looks down on her. Truth is, he doesn't look down on her all that much...but he's pretty down on himself too and that drags everyone under. Hoffman and Linney are a great cinematic team, and I'd love to see them work together on something again. They whole time I was watching them, I was imagining seeing them in a play together...that would be worth seeing.
  
  Philip Bosco is also VERY good as the father. His expression alternates from confusion to anger to disappointment to sadness to emptiness to very mild happiness. He's not an easy guy to like...but he is by no means the clichés dementia victim so many movies dish out. In fact, Jenkins has made all three characters very specific and unique. While it's always a bit heavy-handed to see characters who are writers or "in theatre," even that works for this film, because these two have to live out pretend lives because their real lives hold so little joy. (It's a very nice touch that Hoffman is a Brecht scholar...Brecht was all about the head and not the heart. He didn't want his plays to have real emotion...Hoffman's character is somewhat afraid of real emotion too.)
  
  This isn't an earth-shattering film. It has moments of great humor and also some sadness. Mostly, it just feels like a fairly believable slice-of-life. It's not an important film...but it has some great performances, and that makes it very worthwhile.
  
  
• Where Does Theatre End And Real Life Begin?
  By A1TPW86OHXTXFC on 2008-04-26
  "It's the pleasure of a true-to-life tale told by a director and actors who've sunk so deep into their movie together you wonder how they ever surfaced. You live with Jon and Wendy Savage gratefully, even when they can't always do the same." Manohla Dargis
  
  "They mess you up, your mum and dad," Philip Larkin wrote, says Peter Travers. The two Savages, Wendy and Jon are as screwed up as they come, but they are likable, wonderfully human people. Wendy lives in NYC and is a temp while trying to write plays, and John is a professor of Brecht in Buffalo- and yes, they do shuffle off to Buffalo. Wendy has a married lover and Jon a Polish girlfriend, but he is not able to commit, and her visa expires and she leaves. Their father, with whom they have been estranged most of their life has dementia and needs care. Here they come to the rescue- they travel to Arizona to bring him back to Buffalo and a nursing home. All the trials and tribulations of caring for a father, with whom you have little in common, who probably physically abused you, and who can still get to you in those little ways.
  
  The film of the days in the life of a man who is dying. Lenny, played by Philip Bosco is a stage actor who has completed 40 films, a true actor. Wendy as played by Laura Linney is as always a study in the definition of pure acting, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, as Jon, who is a giant in our acting industry more than bring this film together.
  
  This is a movie of appreciation for the nature that goes into making us who we are. Because as brother and sister Jon and Wendy are able to bring it all home. Not enough superlatives can be stated about the acting and the three actors who make this film. This is also a film of humour, of the everyday issues and problems that raise their head and the circumstances that make us laugh. There are no answers in this film. How do you find a nursing home for your demented father? How do you make that room one you want to live in? How do you provide love when there wasn't any at the beginning? Tamara Jenkins, the writer and director has provided a story that none of us want to live, but one we all need to see.
  
  "Jenkins and her three astonishing actors create comic devastation out of situations as serious as a mental meltdown and picking out just the right nursing home. There is nothing cozy about The Savages. Bosco, a theater legend, seizes his juiciest film role and makes every shocking moment count. And Linney is an amazement, showing vulnerability and strength at war for a character's soul. As for Hoffman, is this his year, or what?" Peter Travers
  
  This film is one that is so poignant, and we can all see some vestiges of our families in this tale. There have been few films that show us what real life is like when someone in our family has dementia. This film portrays that reality with humour and finally with understanding.
  
  Highly Recommended. prisrob 04-26-08
  
  Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
  
  You Can Count on Me
  
  
  
• A Pitch Perfect Movie
  By A9I40WFF40R4 on 2008-02-18
  Tamara Jenkins, the director of "The Savages" gets everything right in this movie: from the starkness of the nursing home--whatever euphemism you may use to describe it, as Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman) reminds his sister Wendy (Laura Linney) it's a place where people die and awful things happen-- to the cluttered lives of the Savage family. Jon and Wendy, estranged from their father and living far away from him (he has been living in Arizona with a common-law wife; Jon lives in Buffalo, Wendy in New York City) get the message that their father (Philip Bosco) has become demented and is writing with his own feces on the walls of the house where he is living. The film is all about how these two children, not particularly close to each other and certainly not to their father, have to make difficult decisions about how to care for him in his illness and impending death. (There is a humorous but at the same time devastating scene in a restaurant when Jon and Wendy approach the subject with their father about how he feels about life support if he is in a coma and after that then what, to which he screams, "pull the plug" and "bury me."
  
  This movie is pitch perfect as those of us who have spent time in nursing homes visiting dying relatives can attest. You recognize the sometimes forced cheerfulness of the staff but also the wisdom of some of them, the drab surroundings, the Christmas decorations, etc. The film is essentially carried by the three principal actors who give fine performances. Ms. Linney was nominated for an Oscar for her performance. Mr. Hoffman should have been (although he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in "Charlie Wilson's War") as he is one of our very best actors as is evidenced here in this film which has such a "lived in" feel to it. Both Jon and Wendy, in caring for their father, come to grips with the messiness of their own lives and make some corrections, however small, in the direction they are going.
  
  This movie will wring you out. I left the theatre ready to watch Ginger Rogers on the big screen do some fancy steps if she does have to dance backwards.
  
  
  
  
• The Inevitable Indignities of Aging Masterfully Played Out Like an Intimately Orchestrated Sonata
  By A13E0ARAXI6KJW on 2008-03-18
  It's been nearly a decade since her first film, 1998's idiosyncratic Slums of Beverly Hills, but writer/director Tamara Jenkins' 2007 drama really hits the nail on the head this time with this trenchant look at the inevitable indignities of aging for not only a father slipping into dementia but his two emotionally stunted children, both hovering around forty and dealing with their own personal issues which are preventing them from moving forward with their lives. I saw the preview for this movie several months ago and expected a black comedy with a deadpan toward death and euthanasia. While there are some laughs, it is really the pervasive and empathetic sadness of the situation that draws you into a very human-size story of three flawed people.
  
  The character-driven story begins in the famous Del Webb retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, where Lenny Savage has been living with his now-severely ailing girlfriend Doris for twenty years. When Doris passes away, Lenny's two children are contacted since he is being evicted and no longer able to live on his own. His son Jon is a professor of theater in Buffalo working on a book about German playwright Bertolt Brecht, while his daughter Wendy is ironically a struggling playwright applying for a multitude of grants while doing demeaning temp work in Manhattan. Although they are both smart with similar artistic aspirations and a common phobia when it comes to long-term commitments, the siblings have become estranged from each other as well as their father. They jointly decide to take Lenny back to Buffalo where Jon has reserved a room in a rather depressing (though typical) nursing home. Naturally, the full extent of their dysfunctional family unit comes to the fore now that they are all within close proximity of one another during a particularly unforgiving winter.
  
  What Jenkins does exceptionally well is depict the small moments, both private and shared, as Jon, Wendy and Lenny each come to terms with the inevitable. The dialogue scenes have a realistic, unsentimental edge as long-dormant feelings of resentment percolate into both vitriol and humor. The three leads are note-perfect. As the more insular Jon, Philip Seymour Hoffman accurately captures the simmering states of denial and hostility of a man whose innate brilliance is deliberately camouflaged by his disheveled, disconnected life. Playing Wendy as a self-loathing variation on the emotionally uptight character she played in Kenneth Lonergan's brilliant You Can Count on Me, Laura Linney proves again what a master she is at sharply balancing a messy bundle of neuroses like a precarious house of cards. Despite their physical dissimilarity, Hoffman and Linney are completely convincing as tension-rattled siblings in a constant state of mutual misunderstanding.
  
  In his brief scenes, Broadway veteran Philip Bosco manages to paint the fury and confusion in Lenny with forceful, affecting strokes. On the sidelines, Peter Friedman plays Wendy's married lover with just the right amount of smarmy neediness, while Gbenga Akinnagbe has a couple of nice scenes with Linney as a sympathetic caretaker. There is nice camerawork from W. Mott Hupfel III, who effectively makes the abrupt visual transition from the color of sunny, open-spaced Arizona to the grayness of Buffalo in winter, while the eclectic music selections on the soundtrack dramatically bridge the story well. Film trivialists may recall the opening song, "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard", as the one Diane Keaton sings during one of the more idyllic scenes in Warren Beatty's Reds. This movie will not be everyone's cup of tea, but anyone with aging parents will undoubtedly be affected by it.
  
  
• Neurotic, sad and wonderful.
  By AFFVUZEGP1FDQ on 2008-03-19
  Sad at times, witty and stragely funny the next. The movie is phenomenal.
  
  The Savages are a brother and sister, that are not that close, that come together to take care of their ailing father. They must decide what to do with him considering he has dementia. They did not have the best childhood, yet they never questioned the idea that they were responsible for their father.
  
  Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman offer us spellbinding performances, their characters are so tightly wound, so incredibly stressed and self-contained, that unraveling their emotions is an experience onto itself.
  
  Phillip Bosco, as Lenny Savage, the father, manages to portray a man suffering from dementia. His performance is brilliantly sad and heart breaking. The loneliness and sense of loss that this man feels radiates through this actor. He managed to perfectly capture the essense of his character and delivered it to the lens.
  
  The movie is excellent because it offers us a very well paced movie that allows us time to contemplate the scenes rather than absorbing them as they are. It reaches into our thought process and makes us think about what is going on in the movie.
  
  
• Walking that fine line between love/hate and responsibility in family matters
  By ATXL536YX71TR on 2007-12-29
  Jon and Wendy Savage are having a big problem? What do they do and how should they respond to their aging and dying father who does not nor ever has loved them?
  
  Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney (SHE is the star here!) expertly take on the persona of these two siblings confronted with the task of each other, their upbringing, and their inner-child vs their outward adult when grappling with the impending death of a man who utterly abandoned them in life.
  
  If you have seen the other films that actress/writer/director Tamara Jenkins has done (FAMILY REMAINS,CHOICES: THE GOOD,BAD,UGLY and THE SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS) then you will know that you will be in for a very frank and wry taste of black comedy.Jenkins films focus on characters and not on all of the other components that some films highlight.She writes true-to-life, honest subjects, and she is not one to shy away from forcing us to look at the needy and darker sides of ourselves.
  
  This film is simple and direct,witty and clever,light and dark and showcases actors first.I would thoroughly recommend this film for anyone if only for a truthful look at the imperfections of "The Family".It is hard for me to be impartial about this subject matter because I lived it!
  
  An excellent companion film would beA Loving Father(France).
  
  
• The Inevitable Indignities of Aging Masterfully Played Out Like an Intimately Orchestrated Sonata
  By A13E0ARAXI6KJW on 2008-01-01
  It's been nearly a decade since her first film, 1998's idiosyncratic Slums of Beverly Hills, but writer/director Tamara Jenkins' 2007 drama really hits the nail on the head this time with this trenchant look at the inevitable indignities of aging for not only a father slipping into dementia but his two emotionally stunted children, both hovering around forty and dealing with their own personal issues which are preventing them from moving forward with their lives. I saw the preview for this movie several months ago and expected a black comedy with a deadpan toward death and euthanasia. While there are some laughs, it is really the pervasive and empathetic sadness of the situation that draws you into a very human-size story of three flawed people.
  
  The character-driven story begins in the famous Del Webb retirement community of Sun City, Arizona, where Lenny Savage has been living with his now-severely ailing girlfriend Doris for twenty years. When Doris passes away, Lenny's two children are contacted since he is being evicted and no longer able to live on his own. His son Jon is a professor of theater in Buffalo working on a book about German playwright Bertolt Brecht, while his daughter Wendy is ironically a struggling playwright applying for a multitude of grants while doing demeaning temp work in Manhattan. Although they are both smart with similar artistic aspirations and a common phobia when it comes to long-term commitments, the siblings have become estranged from each other as well as their father. They jointly decide to take Lenny back to Buffalo where Jon has reserved a room in a rather depressing (though typical) nursing home. Naturally, the full extent of their dysfunctional family unit comes to the fore now that they are all within close proximity of one another during a particularly unforgiving winter.
  
  What Jenkins does exceptionally well is depict the small moments, both private and shared, as Jon, Wendy and Lenny each come to terms with the inevitable. The dialogue scenes have a realistic, unsentimental edge as long-dormant feelings of resentment percolate into both vitriol and humor. The three leads are note-perfect. As the more insular Jon, Philip Seymour Hoffman accurately captures the simmering states of denial and hostility of a man whose innate brilliance is deliberately camouflaged by his disheveled, disconnected life. Playing Wendy as a self-loathing variation on the emotionally uptight character she played in Kenneth Lonergan's brilliant You Can Count on Me, Laura Linney proves again what a master she is at sharply balancing a messy bundle of neuroses like a precarious house of cards. Despite their physical dissimilarity, Hoffman and Linney are completely convincing as tension-rattled siblings in a constant state of mutual misunderstanding.
  
  In his brief scenes, Broadway veteran Philip Bosco manages to paint the fury and confusion in Lenny with forceful, affecting strokes. On the sidelines, Peter Friedman plays Wendy's married lover with just the right amount of smarmy neediness, while Gbenga Akinnagbe has a couple of nice scenes with Linney as a sympathetic caretaker. There is nice camerawork from W. Mott Hupfel III, who effectively makes the abrupt visual transition from the color of sunny, open-spaced Arizona to the grayness of Buffalo in winter, while the eclectic music selections on the soundtrack dramatically bridge the story well. Film trivialists may recall the opening song, "I Don't Want to Play in Your Yard", as the one Diane Keaton sings during one of the more idyllic scenes in Warren Beatty's Reds. This movie will not be everyone's cup of tea, but anyone with aging parents will undoubtedly be affected by it.
  
  
• Two Oscar-worthy performances and a thoughtful script!
  By A2R1HAXRNU0QX7 on 2008-01-23
  Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney give us a pair of performances right out of their standard playbooks...and the remarkable thing is that they both work so well. Hoffman's slobby demeanor, unshaven face, red eyes and a delivery so bored you can tell it just feels like his character can barely stand the idea of talking are nothing new...but they are still effective. Linney gives another over-energized, on-the-edge but super intelligent performance...again, nothing new...but still very welcome.
  
  These two play siblings of the Savage family, who, while not exactly estranged, probably aren't spending much time with each other either. Hoffman is a Brecht scholar and professor in Buffalo, and Linney works as a temp in NYC, while waiting for a grant that will allow her to pursue her dreams of playwrighting. They are brought together when they have to bring their father (Philip Bosco) back to New York after his long-time girlfriend dies. Dad is suffering from early stages of dementia and has other ailments, so Hoffman persuades Linney that the only place for dad is a nursing home.
  
  I fully expected this movie to be an indictment against our treatment of the elderly, or one of those family dramas where everyone yells at each other all the time. Instead, the siblings are mostly uncomfortable with each other. Each is in the end-stages of relationships and neither feels comfortable sharing much about their personal lives. They agree to live together for a little while, so they can trade off looking in on dad. The movie mostly explores their brittle relationship with each other. Dad clearly wasn't much in the parenting department, and no doubt his kids owe a lot of their failures and foibles to that fact...but Dad is now mostly a non-entity. He sometimes recognizes them, and sometimes he resists efforts to move him or change his clothes...but mostly he is lost and passive. He's hardly the man they both grew to dislike...he's mostly an obligation. To the credit of the brother and sister, they never argue over who will "take care of dad" or spout clichés like "you're getting off easy." They both understand that this burden has fallen to them, and while not happy about, they will handle it.
  
  Hoffman is more practical. He finds Dad a nursing home near his house. It's got a plain exterior and feels like a hospital. They take medicare and can provide for dad. (In fact, I really enjoyed the fact that this home, while still somewhat depressing, actually cared for its patients, treated them with respect and didn't generate any enmity from the audience.) To Hoffman, the place is fine. Linney wants dad somewhere "nicer," preferably a place in Vermont. She is somewhat driven to find her dad a nicer spot...probably out of some misplaced guilt.
  
  Not a lot happens in this film. Director and writer Tamara Jenkins is very blessed to have these two great actors, because they make all their interactions crackle with wit, sadness and believability. They love each other...but not in a way that gives them much joy. They are siblings who share little beyond an appreciation for theatre and a dieing father. Yet in many ways, the movie shows them jockeying for the approval of the other. Linney wants to be successful in her brother's eyes, because she thinks he looks down on her. Truth is, he doesn't look down on her all that much...but he's pretty down on himself too and that drags everyone under. Hoffman and Linney are a great cinematic team, and I'd love to see them work together on something again. They whole time I was watching them, I was imagining seeing them in a play together...that would be worth seeing.
  
  Philip Bosco is also VERY good as the father. His expression alternates from confusion to anger to disappointment to sadness to emptiness to very mild happiness. He's not an easy guy to like...but he is by no means the clichés dementia victim so many movies dish out. In fact, Jenkins has made all three characters very specific and unique. While it's always a bit heavy-handed to see characters who are writers or "in theatre," even that works for this film, because these two have to live out pretend lives because their real lives hold so little joy. (It's a very nice touch that Hoffman is a Brecht scholar...Brecht was all about the head and not the heart. He didn't want his plays to have real emotion...Hoffman's character is somewhat afraid of real emotion too.)
  
  This isn't an earth-shattering film. It has moments of great humor and also some sadness. Mostly, it just feels like a fairly believable slice-of-life. It's not an important film...but it has some great performances, and that makes it very worthwhile.
  
  
• Of bedpans and Brecht
  By A2FEJIORC1MBG3 on 2008-04-21
  Syemour Phillip Hoffman, the Charles Laughton of his generation, delivers a superb performance in "The Savages", the latest offering from writer-director Tamara Jenkins ("Slums of Beverly Hills"). In a bit of inspired casting, Jenkins has paired Hoffman up with one of the finest character actresses around, Laura Linney. Hoffman and Linney are Jon and Wendy Savage, middle-aged siblings who find themselves saddled with the responsibility of caring for their estranged father, who has been diagnosed with dementia. When his "girlfriend" of twenty years dies, the elder Savage, Lenny (beautifully played by veteran stage actor Philip Bosco) is kicked to the curb by her adult children, who now legally own the house that the couple shared.
  
  Neither Savage sibling is well-equipped to take care of this sudden and unwelcome burden. Each is suffering through their own mid-life crisis, and lead somewhat self-absorbed lives. Wendy is an aspiring playwright, supporting herself by working temp jobs as the writer's grant rejection letters pile up. She lives alone in a modest NYC apartment (with the requisite cat) and gobbles down anti-depressants while slogging her way through a half-hearted affair with a married neighbor. Jon is a drama professor at an upstate college, spending his spare time doing obsessive research for a book on "the dark comedy" of Bertolt Brecht (in one particularly wonderful scene, he grooves to Kurt Weill while cruising in his car, high on Percocet). His love life is also in disarray; his live-in girlfriend of several years is heading back to her native Poland because her visa has expired (along with any hopes of a marriage proposal from the commitment-shy Jon).
  
  Necessity sparks an uneasy family reunion as Jon and Wendy scramble to find a nursing home for Lenny, whose moments of lucidity are marked by the demeaning verbal abuse that obviously drove the siblings apart from their father in the first place (and explains the self-esteem issues that pervade their adult life). It doesn't take long for long-dormant rivalries and simmering resentments between the brother and sister to re-emerge as well.
  
  This is one of those family angst dramas that could have easily turned into a wrist-slitting downer in the Eugene O'Neill/Harold Pinter vein. After all, it does deal with some heavy issues; existential middle age despair and the looming prospect of the inevitable downward spiral of our parents' "golden years" does not exactly make for "feel-good" fare. However, writer-director Jenkins strikes a nice balance here; while her script doesn't sugar-coat the film's central theme (i.e., we're all gonna die) with maudlin sentimentality, she still provides just the right amount of levity and very real, life-affirming moments to make this an engaging watch. It doesn't hurt to have the monster talents of Hoffman and Linney on board. I know this is a dreaded cliché, but they made me laugh, and they made me cry. I'd rate this one three and a half Percocets.
  
  
  
• A Slice Of Life... As Bleak As It May Seem
  By A1E9QU27DMFRGS on 2008-05-17
  The entire Savage family in Writer/Director Tamara Jenkins' first film in three years suffers from delusions of their own mind. The patriarch, Lenny (Philip Bosco), is deteriorating in mental health due to his age and lack of environmentally challenging stimuli, but the "kids," Wendy and Jon (Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman) have no such excuse. Rather their imaginations contort the facts and history of their family (Wendy is working on a "semi-autobiographical" tale about a brother and sister who are "forced to fend for themselves" at the hand of an abusive father after their "mother goes out on a date only to never return") and keep them from maturing (Jon breaks up with his long time girlfriend when her visa expires, sending her back to Poland). Though Jon points out that they "are not in therapy right now; this is real life," the central theme in The Savages appears to be that all the therapy in the world can't heal those who just aren't ready to accept it. Though Wendy seems to have taken on the brunt of it (with her pill-popping and extramarital affair), everyone in The Savages is so stuck on the mistakes of the past that they are unable to forgive, let alone try to move forward with their lives. Though The Savages depicts one very specific family's journey, at its core is a state of mind that is much more common than perhaps admitted and therefore universal.
  
  When Lenny's girlfriend passes away, he is left without companionship and homecare, so both siblings travel to Sun City, Arizona for the funeral and to see to longer-term placement of the man whom they both moved to the opposite coast to escape. Arriving at their father's hospital bed, they are reduced once again to small children in his presence, even though he is strapped into bed and tied up with catheters and IV drips. The Savages is a coming-of-age tale if there ever was one, but its protagonists are already middle-aged. Slowly, perhaps even reluctantly, Wendy learns the importance of caring for someone else, and in turn, takes a cold, hard look at how sad her life has become. Her neuroses translate into an obsession to do the best she can for her father, in almost a nurturing, spousal way. Jon, on the other hand, just gives into his father's worsening condition, and rather than try to control it, he accepts it. In their own way, they each change subtly, but surely, in the short timeframe the film spans. At times they seem to take one small step forward and two giant leaps back, but it's a gradual process; they cannot magically be fixed overnight. As Jon said: "This is not [a movie]; this is real life." It takes the need to care for the man who never did for them for these two perpetual adolescents to finally begin to grow up.
  
  The weight of film relies on Linney and Hoffman's shoulders, and in less capable actors' hands, the characters would come off as insane drones, but because both are so known for (and so good at) playing "everymen," they add a level of credibility and believability... even upon revealing yet another fantastical layer of personality (such as Wendy's admission that the grant she received was not for her play but actually from FEMA because of 9/11). Jenkins directs her actors to be natural and emote their feelings with slight rolls of their eyes or slouching shoulders, and The Savages, as a film about an average family, is only stronger for that.
  
  The Savages on DVD offers two brief extended scenes, one which is the opening dance routine, and one which features the motel lounge singers. Both are superfluous, however, as the real attraction is the EPK-esque "Making of" featurette entitled "Meet The Savages." In it, interviews with the cast and Jenkins share their inspiration during both the development and pre-production periods. Jenkins points out in this "extra" that she opts for "slice of life" characters and moments and prefers observational humor rather than more traditional on-screen humor. It is an unnecessary admission after actually viewing The Savages, which blurs the line between comedy and tragedy, but it is still a refreshing approach to filmmaking nonetheless.
  
  Jenkins also shares a few personal photos in a bonus behind-the-scenes gallery, and of course the disc offers trailers from other upcoming Fox releases. The Savages' theatrical run was short-lived--a blink-and-you-missed-it-- and didn't have the opportunity to reach the masses who would have undoubtedly identified with the story had they known it was there. Thankfully, though, like the Savages, the film itself has been given a second chance at life with its DVD release.
  
  
  
• Another Dysfunctional Family Drama
  By A3RNP5X8ZGZIEI on 2008-06-10
  "Savages," (2007), a comedy/drama from the first-time writer/director Tamara Jenkins, comes to us as another examination of a contemporary dysfunctional family. It stars Laura Linney, deservedly nominated for an Oscar in her role as the annoying Wendy Savage; Philip Seymour Hoffman as her underachieving brother Jon, and Philip Bosco as their aging, going into dementia dad Lenny, who abused them when he had the chance. Life hasn't treated this brother and sister as they would wish - they're a long way from achieving their dreams - and suddenly they find they must put their preoccupations aside to look after their father. The acting, individual and ensemble, is excellent: first timer Jenkins has done very well with her excellent cast. Mise en scene, Sun City Arizona, and dreary winter Buffalo, New York, is very well-done, and even supporting parts are crisply written. Unfortunately, in the last ten minutes of the film, the writer/director finds it necessary to come up with a happy Hollywood ending for virtually all her characters, even the nonhuman ones, vitiating any sting the movie might have had.
  
  
• Actors
  By A9LAPV8XNKZVZ on 2008-04-12
  Sometimes they save a bad movie. Sometimes they knock a good movie out of the park. This movie is a grand slam. Actors at the top of their game. You might say... too depessing., not enough action. It's time to grow up. You will not forget this work.
  
  
• Aims for insight, settles for middlebrow
  By A32XW50ILWOXNO on 2008-05-15
  A slovenly Brecht scholar and his sorta-playwright sister watch their estranged father die in Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages," which never quite decides if it'd like to be a satire, Bergman-style claustrodrama or one of those high-end, visually static art pictures that might as well be performed on a stage. And for good reason - Jenkins, like a lot of her gifted contemporaries, is not aspiring to be Lars Von Trier; rather, she's merely a bright, literate filmmaker cobbling together experiences, jokes and observations into something resembling a loose plot, filmed in whatever style suits her mood that day. As a coherent vision, it isn't; it's really a blog of, oh, Wonkette quality, as emotions, dialogue and character arcs change briskly, presumably according to the quality of one's donut that morning, or the intensity of conversation the night before. The ending of "The Savages" is surprisingly foolish. Sugary even. Not merely unearned, it seems like A Life Lesson Learned. It's soft-core Tama Janowitz turned "One True Thing." C'mon now. You feel like taking a few names in vain.
  
  Such is often the lot of those trying to give voice and grant victory to Generation X All Grown Up as it struggles to get a scoop of the pie hoarded by Baby Boomers, who are forever to trying to recapture their youth (that is, use wistfulness as a means of control and generational subjugation) through the social (sexual) exploitation of their junior partner. In Jon and Wendy Savage, the slob/snob combo played by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, we see emotional immaturity froth into sloppy attempts at intimacy, a willingness to take life on the chin, marijuana as a coping mechanism, an inability to finish, a helping of shame or that character trait a bit farther down the subway line - sloth. It'd be a fresh woman's perspective if Nicole Holofcener, the Sprecher sisters, Lisa Cholodenko, and Rebecca Miller hadn't made the same commentaries in the last six years. Or if Jenkins hadn't so expertly charted this journey in "The Slums of Beverly Hills" eight years ago. Or if Noah Baumbach, Nicole Kidman, and the DDG Jennifer Jason Leigh hadn't thrown "Margot at the Wedding" into the arena. "The Savages" can't bust free of all that; its best foot, so to speak, are Hoffman and Linney, who are decent but unspectacular.
  
  It's Linney's Wendy who gets top billing; Jon's too skilled at emotional distance to be the lead of any kind of funny movie Jenkins would make. Wendy's a temp of some kind, working on a play about her childhood, the title and contents of which don't seem very original. At any rate, she's the prototypical Gen X girl, sleeping with a married, balding Boomer, mostly, it seems, out of kindness and some affinity for the guy's dog. After a tryst with said MBB, she checks her answering machine: Come get your dad, a voice says. He's writing in his own feces.
  
  For Lenny (Philip Bosco), this seems like an act of defiance and dementia, but when his live-in girlfriend dies at the nail salon shortly after this episode, it really doesn't matter. The lady's kids don't want him. Jon and Wendy's turn.
  
  The short opening act, in which siblings are dragged back into Lenny's life and forced to find him a new home, is nearly perfect; over the opening credits, Jenkins presents a goofy, Tim Burton sideshow of Sun City, Arizona - its landscaping done a spare, Feng Shui style, an apt amphitheater for what can only be considered an elderly pom-pom squad - only to quickly reveal a harsher core, of, frankly, fat, unhappy people (a rude male nurse, the aforementioned pushy kids). Shades of "Blue Velvet?" I considered it. More like Soundgarden's "Black Hole Sun" video. Jon and Wendy look like pinned specimens in this environment: Too much light, too much heat, not enough crawl-in spots to hide, waste time and nurse wounds in.
  
  Predictably, Jon leaves Sun City early - this is not a man who chooses to trouble himself much with people, even a kind Polish lover (Cara Seymour) whose visa is about to expire. And Wendy has to bring Lenny back to Buffalo on a plane by herself. The first misstep in "The Savages" occurs on that ride - an embarrassing trip to the bathroom with little setup or payoff - and Jenkins proceeds to recommit the crimes, over and over: A freak neck injury during a tennis match at the local gym, a confession regarding Wendy's apparent Guggenheim grant, a movie night at Lenny's nursing home, where Lenny inexplicably chooses "The Jazz Singer" to show to patients and all-black orderly staff. Jenkins evens finds time to further the "wise immigrant" myth, complete with a counseling session for Wendy and a smooth "pffft!" of pot roach. Then she tries to kiss the wise orderly, and he-
  
  Well, look. "The Savages" is witty enough, and occasionally on point: Jenkins shows herself to be a person who'd make a good Starbucks Buddy. Jon's rant about upscale nursing homes - which prey on the emotions of the patient's family - is a perfect commentary on the dilemma of the Gen Xer: "Am I doing the right thing? Is this nice enough? Would my older, wiser friends approve?" Jon's cynical, pathetic worldview just happens to be on the right side of this issue, and Hoffman, as always, knows where to find an ounce of intellectual rage in his performance. Jenkins negates this speech, mind you, by deeming it cruel (she does so by cutting to a wide shot of a daughter pushing her mother in a wheelchair, clearly in earshot).
  
  But wit and just-so observations are better kept in seven-page short stories that make the literary journal circuit. Quaint, look-at-my-world lists are fine for filler, but they don't drive drama, and Jenkins proves it in the movie's last act, where, sans rimshots, she relies on trembling hands, the "weird sleep" two-shot, shots of a gray sky and free parting gifts to the characters, courtesy of off-screen growth marked by the title card "six months later." In those final scenes, Jon has a line about Wendy's work that so false and empty that Hoffman seems pained to say it.
  
  Which is interesting, because Hoffman saves a lot of the scenes that Linney either overplays or overtly conforms to Jenkins' shabby direction. A number of times, Linney steps out of character and declares her line, as if to bump the story along. By her nature, Linney is a lot like Jennifer Aniston, a brittle, barking actor, all nerve endings, hand gestures, and worrisome looks. Many of her key roles - "You Can Count On Me," "The Squid and the Whale," - are as responsible, guilt-ridden, overburdened caretakers on the verge of subversive behavior. She does not, in short, have the persona of someone who became estranged from their father and brother for years, and she doesn't wear it well.
  
  
• Wonderful film
  By A8AD6PLQ0PPQE on 2008-05-25
  My husband and I watched this film together and throughout the opening scenes and first part of the movie as the camera rolls through Sun City, Arizona, into the house, and even on into the hospital, everything was quite familiar. The central truths of this story - wonderfully filmed and wonderfully acted - just hit home. It's an extraordinary film with great performances and we loved it. It is absolutely true to the human experience, funny and tender and sad and hopeful, too. Loved it.
  
  
• Fine sibling dramedy of lose and discovery
  By AQUU8S55JGY2H on 2007-09-23
  I watched this at an audience screening and was moved and entertained throughout.
  With Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney and Philip Bosco playing son, daughter and father, respectively, such moving entertainment comes naturally. Enhanced by Tamara Jenkins (The Slums of Beverly Hills) warm direction off-setting the bleakness of wintry Buffalo and the oppressiveness of Arizona, The Savages maintains a humbleness of virtue mixed with wit, pain, artistic/spiritual desperation, odd Americana and humor.
  As siblings who come together from distant spectrums of theatre careers to care for their estranged father, Hoffman and Linney are excellent together, highlighted by their sparing, competitive writings while sharing their family home in Buffalo. They bring a beauty and warmth to siblinghood that recognizes a lifelong bonds obligations and joys. As well, Philip Bosco as their deteriorating father is FABULOUS, in a truly wonderful performance that deserves award recognition.
  
  
• Funny, Smart, and Thoughtful
  By A1UZGR4MRYNPMC on 2008-02-08
  I absolutely hated the final scene of the movie (it was maudlin and unbelievable, and at odds with the entire tone of the movie) but other than that minor detail, I'd highly recommend The Savages. It has a thoughtful and smart script, which portrays a dysfunctional family in crisis in a way that is real, funny, and never clichéd. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman have never been better, and that's saying a lot. I look forward to seeing more films by Tamara Jenkins.
  
  
• docked two points for the ending
  By A2WOIQ2L55O3B9 on 2008-03-30
  I won't include any spoiler but let me just say that the last 30 seconds of this film takes it from five stars to three. Simply appalling -- despite the wonderful performances and what is, up to that point, a truly intelligent and powerful film. How COULD they?
  
  
• Overshadowed by the overrated JUNO.
  By A11SPSEM08VIXX on 2008-04-24
  This film should have been in the place Juno was this year at the awards. It did everything Juno did not in dealing with an important social issue that effects us as a society. There was a perfect balance of comedy and seriousness. The wisecracks came out of real characters and were believable in the context the film set up.
  
  The acting was superb. My only complaint was Laura Linney not removing her bra during a intimate scene. It runs contrary to reality and reminds me I am watching a film. Female and male anatomy alike should not be regarded as so special and private. it's just body parts. We all have them. Back in the 70s films showed way more, were more realistic and had PG or even G ratings. Kramer VS Kramer showed JoBeth Williams topless and it was no big deal. Laura Linney is a great actress who just needed to take her top off for that scene and act with, not hide her body.
  
  The story and film itself were excellent otherwise. While it is not a film to throw on all the time it was good and I did enjoy it a great deal. Bravo.
  
  
• When the child becomes the parent
  By A19ZXK9HHVRV1X on 2008-05-24
  As we move ever further into the 21st Century, more and more Baby Boomers and Gen-Xers are finding themselves thrust into the role of primary caregiver to their ailing and aging parents. Such a situation is challenging enough even under the best of circumstances, but what if the person who needs taking care of was never a loving and nurturing parent to begin with, or the middle-aged child has more than enough problems on his own plate to deal with? This is the dilemma faced by John and Wendy Savage, a brother and sister who have long been estranged from the father who left them when they were youngsters but who has now come back into their lives after he can no longer take care of himself. Despite the fact that the siblings feel little emotional attachment to their father, they agree to do the decent thing by caring for him in his final days, even though his dementia makes it nearly impossible for them to heal old wounds or build a filial bridge between the two generations.
  
  Meanwhile, John and Wendy, both unmarried and childless, aren't exactly what one would call models of highly functional and successful adults in their own right. John is a theater professor and part-time author who lives in a shabby Buffalo apartment with a girl from Poland who is being deported because John - commitment-phobe that he is - can't bring himself to marry her. Wendy is an unsuccessful playwright who pays the bills with temp jobs and has been carrying on a dead-end affair with a married man for years.
  
  "The Savages" works on a dual level, exposing the grim realities of aging, while at the same time exploring the complexities of familial (i.e. parent-child and sibling) relationships. The strain on everyone caught in this type of a predicament can be devastating and overwhelming, and writer/director Tamara Jenkins examines the situation from all angles. John and Wendy have an understandable urge to live their own lives, and they feel ill-equipped to cope with this new burden that has been suddenly placed upon them. The situation also opens up old wounds related to their upbringing and heightens their own feelings of inadequacy and failure. John and Wendy are also not above turning against one another when the world gets to be a bit too much for them to handle, wounding each other with verbal thrusts and jabs carefully aimed at their various weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
  
  The subject matter is obviously dark and brooding, but the filmmakers inject a surprising amount of biting, whistling-past-the-graveyard humor to help lighten the load. They are also helped in this regard by the rich and engaging performances of its three leading actors. Philip Seymour Hoffman is remarkably quiet and subdued in his role of John, the more cynical of the two children who feels a little less guilt-ridden about doing the minimum for a man who never took on the very role of paternal caregiver to his children that they are assuming for him. As the father, Philip Bosco rises to the difficult challenge of portraying a man who`s lost much of his ability to connect with the world around him. But it is Laura Linney who provides the warm human center that lifts the movie above the dreary nature of its material. It is Wendy who struggles most with doing what is right by trying to make the last days of a man who abandoned her as comfortable as possible. In her every word and gesture, Linney shows that she understands the paradoxical nature of the character she is being called on to play, revealing her weaknesses and vulnerabilities, while, at the same time, showing her to be a woman of strength and character, even if she has trouble displaying much of either of those qualities in her own life. In fact, we sense that Wendy does quite a bit of growing up in the course of her struggles. Wendy may hate her father for never being there for her and her brother, but she knows maturity means moving beyond one's bitterness over the past and responding to the basic humanity of even the most undeserving among us.
  
  What I like about "The Savages" is that it doesn't devolve into angst-ridden hand-wringing or self-aggrandizing melodramatics in dealing with its topic. Instead, in this her fifth film as a director, Jenkins illuminates a difficult subject with subtlety, insight and compassion. Definitely one worth seeing.
  
  
  
  
  
• As entertaining as it is bleak...
  By A12X2J7AVZ04IQ on 2008-05-25
  Who would've thought that dysfunction could be so entertaining, as well as enlightening? In the hands of the very adept writer/director Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages" lets out all the stops. These characters are all damaged, in one way or another, and the screenplay allows great latitude to show the humor in everyday human foibles. Indeed, there's loads of unrequited familial love that has never been given the chance to flow naturally. Laura Linney and P.S. Hoffman are excellent, perfectly cast, and the wonderful Philip Bosco is on hand to add considerable angst to the proceedings. DVD extras are few but there's a nice making-of segment that explains a lot, and allows Ms. Jenkins to cite her connection to the story. It's not really a pleasant story, but the ending has a certain degree of redemption, and not the cop-out that might've been. I enjoyed "The Savages" very much; Indie film-making is definitely on the rise.
  
  
• An Incredible Work : Death & The Real World
  By A2ULSA0IRUE09E on 2008-05-26
  Tamara Jenkins is clearly a wondrous talent - "The Savages", which focusses on three family members who share that same last name, is a poignant, sometimes hilarious look at love and relationships between siblings, and most importantly our societys' interaction with aging parents and our responsibility toward them.
  
  Despite being a straight-forward narrative, the film excels at certain vignettes that only add to its overall appeal - the scene where Laura Linney is in the airplane with her father and he needs to use the bathroom is especially realistic - I've actually witnessed something like this on an airplane - and the 'breakdown' scene where Linney goes about the hospital searching for the 'big red pillow' she bought her father is a superb high-point of the film as it defines the character so perfectly.
  
  Both siblings here are people who want to 'be something in life'. To this end, they both consider themselves scholared academics on the quest for grants and scholarships and publishing deals. While Hoffman plays his role as the brother without a hint of irony, Linney's role seems better written as she is more 'flawed' and more 'real', without being a total turnoff. Her choice of love-partner (an unattractive, rather unintelligent married man in his 50s) is enough for us to draw up a suitable impression of her character. She is shown as slightly off-kilter, and not really high on the concept of morality. Linney also brings that special awkwardness that people with low self-esteem have, and by the end of the movie we are treated to the direction her life takes - and its not quite what we expected. That last scene will have you thinking for hours (no spoilers here - but it involves a dog that's undergone hip surgery).
  
  "The Savages" is definitely not for everyone, even for many of you who might like slow, dialog-driven film. Its also not pretentious or pandering to an 'art-house' audience, which is something I appreciated. Its very real, down to earth, and definitely the kind of motion picture that Hollywood does not make anymore. At its' center is the superb performance by Linney (who by the way scored an Academy Award Nomination for Best Actress in 2007 for this) - and its clearly an honor-worthy performance. Special mention must be made of the actor who plays the father - his expressions vacillate from bored, disinterested & tired to frantic, confused and violent - watching the other actors put in reactive performances to his outbursts are acting lessons in motion.
  
  "The Savages", for all its dreary subject matter, is also a wonderful commentary on how we treat our parents in their old age. I doubt any of us are doing the 'best job we can', as the siblings in this film sadly find out. What is even harder to do is to care for a parent who didn't bother looking after you when you were growing up. To what extent should you bear responsibility? Do we consider our aging parents a burden or a comfort? Do we look after our aged to assuage our own guilt, or because we truly want to care for them? Very rarely do we even bother to ask ourselves these questions, but "The Savages" will make you wonder what sort of people we are, and how ageism is treated in our current global climate.
  
  What I especially liked about this movie, is that despite its rather short running time (a little under two hours), its very rewatchable - with some great one-liners and situational dialog. Also, watching Laura Linney's facial expressions are enough to convince you that she's one of our contemporary greats. Another great film shes in is "The House of Mirth" with Gillian Anderson.
  
  Four Stars. A great slice of 2007's independent movie scene.
  
  
• Not worth your time.
  By A3NUWBEOKQZ3AI on 2008-05-28
  This movie isn't worth watching. Therefore it's not worth my time to write a long drawn out review of this movie. I just have a few words for it. Boring. This movie stretches out a 60 minute film to nearly 2 hours. I love long movies (more for your money, right?) but this was pointless. The characters were completely unlikable. I never once felt sorry for them. I just wanted them to quit their constant whining about how busy they are and how their father abandoned them. Who cares!
  
  
• Won lots of awards. Consider yourself warned.
  By A189PX3RIU2TJY on 2008-08-06
  Look at the box. 8 different awards on the cover. Never a good sign, these days. I love the two actors. Laura was amazing in Breach (Widescreen Edition). Phillip knocked my socks off in Charlie Wilson's War (Widescreen).
  
  I made it through 10 minutes of this movie, sitting through depressing elderly either feeble minded or taken to writing on the wall with their own poop, the daughter who steals office supplies, conducts personal business from work, humps a married guy she clearly can't stand, and has an emotional outburst when she's phoned about her dad.... at this point, I couldn't take any more of the movie and gave up. Dysfunction isn't my idea of funny.
  
  Do yourself a favor and watch Charlie Wilson's War instead... some very funny lines there. And Breach is a masterpiece.
  
  
  
• Two well-deserved Oscar nominations from the MPAA
  By A2QHM5HBSIXRL4 on 2008-01-23
  I thought writer/director Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages" was one of the best movies I saw in 2007. [I'd put it at about Number 3, behind the far-and-away best, Michael Clayton (Widescreen Edition), and Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition).] It's nice to see the MPAA give it some well-deserved recognition yesterday with Laura Linney's Best Actress nomination and especially with Jenkins' well-deserved nod for Best Original Screenplay. You could make an equally compelling case for Philip Seymour Hoffman, who is astounding in everything he does. Since voters rarely hand out the Blanchett Double, I'll definitely take his nomination for Charlie Wilson's War. He's the best thing about that rather underwhelming release.
  
  This is Jenkins' movie through and through. I really loved her previous effort, Slums of Beverly Hills. That was nine years ago. It's obvious that this is someone who puts huge amounts of thought and time into her work. "The Savages" is a production that will resonate deeply with anyone faced with the sudden role reversal of needing to play parent to one's mother or father. The additional layer of complexity in Jenkins' script is that Wendy and Jon Savage must fulfill that role for a father who fell far short in their lifetimes. As Hoffman's character says better than I can do here: "We're doing the right thing, Wen. We're taking better care of the old man than he ever did of us."
  
  
• It's OK
  By A375H588WTKEHM on 2008-05-03
  A watchable, well made and well acted film about selfish people trying to take care of their dying father. I found most of the characters to be faily unlikable, the Squid and the Whale/big city intellectual/loveless types, always whining about how busy they are with their professoring and dealing with much less important things than caring and giving attention to someone who is sick (i.e. real life). It's fine, there's nothing really wrong with the film, but it's slight and decidedly not a "good time", and fairly devoid of anyone I'd want to meet in real life.
  
  
• "Savages" Rips Through To The Heart Of Dying
  By A1T6VSC7H56IG0 on 2008-05-19
  "Savages," starring Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote) andr Laura Linney (Kinskey) have brought heartbreaking and very poignant preformances to the screen once again. In this film they are siblings attempting to deal with the death of their aging and estranged father's girlfriend of 20 years. The woman's children tell Leonard Savage's children they'll have to find another place for him to live. Leonard Savage has dementia. When they come together to help, they often find they not only need to deal with the needs of their paternal parent, but also their own lives back home. Sibling rivalry and petty disputes hinder them from closing ranks and coming together as we idealistically think families should.
  
  Hoffman plays a college proffesor who is on sabatical to write a book; his sibling, played by Linney is a office worker and part time writer.
  
  This is really where the movie gets its name. The Savages attack not only each other, but also sabotage their personal relationships at home. Hoffman's character, for instance let's a 3 year old relationship die because his girlfriend's visa expired. Linney's character is involved with married men.
  
  All in all, the family Savage are quite a dysfunctional bunch, which many today can identify with. In fact, after my own Mother's passing of Azheimer's disorder, the events and characters in this screenplay were all too real.
  
  The Savages can make you laugh and cry at the same time. It is very well worth owning.
  
  
  
  

• Charlie Wilson's War (Full Screen)
• Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
• There Will Be Blood (Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition)
• Lars and the Real Girl
• Atonement (Widescreen Edition)