The Savages

A brutal encounter with mortality told with uncommon humanity, wit and humor.

Tamara Jenkins’s The Savages, is a beautifully nuanced tragicomedy about two floundering souls.

The Tony-winning Bosco, one of the great stage actors of the last 50 years, does a lot with a little in his restricted role; he's haughty, almost dignified by his angry silence. Linney and Hoffman stay pitch-perfect in their noisy desperation and sullen withdrawal.

I generally resist calling any actor's work "brave" or "fearless" or any such thing, but Bosco's work here made me reconsider that self-imposed ban. It's incredible, harrowing, precise stuff.

Disappointment, delusion, dementia, death--did I mention this is a comedy?

The Savages is ultimately about two siblings, both around 40, in the midst of learning it's never too late to start embracing life, no matter how rotten a hand you were dealt in the past.

The Savages is funny in the if-you-didn't-laugh-you'd-cry way and superbly acted by all involved, including the supporting cast of home-care attendants, nurses, hospital administrators, intake personnel and nursing-home staff.

Tamara Jenkins' breakthrough indie drama-comedy THE SAVAGES, surprisingly captured 2 Oscar nominations back in 2008 , one for the unmistakably excellent Laura Linney and a BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY nomination for herself, so freshly coined as an Oscar nominee and subsequently granted the membership of the academy , allegedly her next project should be on the horizon at any time, nevertheless, as a telling manifest of the shameful situation of female directors in the movie industry, 8 years has passed, we still have no news of Tamara’s follow-up to her excellent work, a life-affirming dissection of the worst-case scenario for (almost) every grown-up - how to fulfil our responsibility, when we must become the caretaker of our ageing parents during their last days. keep reading my review on my blog, please google: cinema omnivore, thanks

The Savages is a very sad film to watch at times, but thankfully, tries to lighten up the mood at time with timely comedic elements. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are brilliant as the two Savage siblings tasked with dealing with the impending death of their father, with whom they had a distant and seemingly abusive relationship with. It is ultimately a beautiful look at family relationships and hardships faced by family throughout our lives. The film has a certain tenderness and heartfeltness that truly pulls you in and makes you feel one with the characters. It also does not hurt if you have had a loved one in this situation, as this film certainly hits home for many. While it is not a happy film, The Savages is a very good, even if depressing, film that really hits all of its marks. It is a very good family drama, comedy, and very poignant film concerning the reality of "rehab" clinics and nursing or retirement homes. As a whole, The Savages is bolstered by those elements, its great acting, and the great direction from Tamara Jenkins.

Siblings' look at life, death, relationships and love. I never would have anticipated Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as an on-screen match, but they are!

Personally, I expected more from this film. The idea is good, and the family drama was well done, but a lot of it is based on the excellent work of the actors and not so much on the merit of the story told. I appreciated the work of the actors, but that is not enough to make a good film. It's bearable, it's worth it from the point of view of dramatic work, but that's basically it. The story revolves around an elderly man who begins to suffer from Alzheimer's and dementia. He has two children: one is a drama teacher and the other is a freelancer who has an affair with a married man. The family's past was not the best, and the two have harsh memories of their father, of a complicated childhood, and returning to take care of their father, although it is an obligation, is not an easy task for either of them. However, they come back, look for a home for him and try to take care of him in the last days of his life. The film is a well-constructed drama, but it doesn't have much to give the audience other than a succession of dialogues and familiar scenes of conflict and tension. It is a somewhat tiring film after some time, and the feeling I got is that we spent almost two hours watching fights based on or originating in quarrels from the family past. Another problem with this film is the fact that there is no empathy between the audience and the characters. Instead of a more appealing or interesting story, the film presents us with an excellent work of acting and interpretation by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. The two actors are very good and have given themselves completely to their characters, developing them very well and revealing a psychology and a considerable wealth of feelings, which is not usual in the most "mainstream" films today. Philip Bosco gives life to the disagreeable father and is quite good at this task, but he has very little to do. Peter Friedman and Rosemary Murphy appear in frankly secondary characters and can add little. Technically, it is a discreet and frankly uninteresting film. Cinematography is limited to the basics and I have not seen any effects worth mentioning. The soundtrack is almost silent and the feeling I had is that the film has an excessively slow and dragged rhythm in some parts, which was not pleasant.

Hoffman was his usual fantastic self, and thats about it. Really dull, boring movie, worth it only for the rather witty theatre references. Avoid, unless you want to sleep