Rating: 6/10

“The Savages” seems to follow a recent trend of creating thoroughly miserable motion pictures. I mean, who enjoys watching a story about two siblings watching their father slowly deteriorate and die? A show of hands please. That’s right, no one.

Any glimpse of entertainment value is salvaged by the dead-on interplay of the sibling pair played by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. You just know they’re going to be good. Laura Linney shined in “The Squid and the Whale” and here she continues to excel as a quirky, intelligent, approachable female. In fact, “The Savages” passes more than a fleeting resemblance to another sibling movie starring Linney, “You Can Count On Me”. The latter is clearly the better film as it takes you an a journey, albeit a rough one, as opposed to “The Savages” which feels more akin to a plunge into dark water.

“The Savages” also finds Hoffman back on his A-game. I thought his performance in “Before The Devil Knows Your Dead” was a let down. I just didn’t buy it. He was, however, amazing in films such as “Magnolia”, “Almost Famous”, “Owning Mahowny”, and “State and Main”. Here he plays a literature professor who is torn between what common sense dictates and deeper, conflicted feelings.

The few side stories seem to do no more than pad the running time. Linney’s character’s affair doesn’t move the plot one bit, nor does Hoffman’s character’s girlfriend’s visa problems. It was, nonetheless, a pleasure to see Cara Seymour again who was unforgettable as Patrick Bateman’s escort service fodder in “American Psycho”.

As an acting showcase, “The Savages” does pull some weight. I can also imagine it having therapeutic value to those who went through a similar situation with a parent or loved one. I suppose it took a certain amount of courage to shed light on such a dismal story. Watch it if you feel you must. If not, why not spend some time with your family?

Buy The Savages from Amazon.

Filed under: 2007 by A.B.