The Savages (2007)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

Father got dementia and had to be removed out because his girlfriend died. Because of this, a brother and a sister, who used to compete with each other and do not have a taste for each other, reunited to take care of their father. Both of them were brought up by their abusive father so both has some twists in their mind. The sister is not calming, over lust, while the brother is bad tempered too.They found more about each other's life when taking care of his father. They mocked each other at first and do not understand, make fun of the weakness of the other when they find their real life, but both of them are trying their best to take care of their father, and at the end they learned to appreciate each other. The brother appreciates the sister's play, despite that she was rejected. The sister hopes the best of the brothers conference at Poland, where his girlfriend lives.although at the end their father died, and 'this is it', their relationship revives.

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 aging parents during their last days. Linney and the late Hoffman are siblings Wendy and Jon Savage, she is an amateur playwright and he is a college professor, so both are intellectuals and unmarried, reaching 40, Wendy is still stuck in a dead-end extramarital affair with Larry (Friedman), a 52-year-old married man, who is jollily content with the status quo. Jon, her elder brother 3 years senior, on the other hand, is ending a three-year relationship with her Polish lover Kasia (Seymour), whose visa is about to expire and he has no intention to marry her. If one is solely reading those background information on paper, both Wendy and Jon are not personable characters. Besides, they are not so close to their father Lenny (Bosco, in his fine but irritating persona as a curmudgeon), who is not protected by Common Law Marriage after his long-time girlfriend died and himself is afflicted with dementia and an ailing health, so now it is now the siblings to take care of their deteriorating father. Neither or them can afford to attend to Lenny by themselves, thus some grating words like assisted living, nursing home or rehabilitation centre are dropping by as default, but Lenny is not exactly a mellow old geezer, the film opens with his stomach-churning fecal revenge as one might expect in a slasher horror, the parent-child rapport is never the aim to be soppily achieved by Jenkins' sincerely matter-of-fact script. More importantly, under the dysfunctional family troupe, the storyline steadily builds a re-connection between the two siblings, from the unspoken competition for grants, the guilt-shifting mind-game, to a tacit feeling when Lenny eventually drops dead peacefully, this is what is happening everyday to ordinary people, no "how could this happen to me!" overcompensating drama or "I can't believe it!" emotional wreck, Jenkins is act of genius in singling out the golden touches out of a real-life scenario, and the unexpectedly rosy ending brings about so much hope using just a little gesture, one single scene, to cogently affirm her talent in theatrics. It is no wonder that both Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney represent the elite of their peers in Hollywood, together, they are so harmonious with each other's presence while their differences in personality are potently exhibited through their interactions: he is pedantic, aloof but sensible, she is more emotional, ambivalent in her life orbit, and a tad naive, both tainted with some snobbishness from their sophisticated literature background. Their dialogues are spontaneous but scintillating with bons mots and when there are no words needed, the coordination between them can be equally enjoyable to behold. As my said statement, they are not quite likable at first glance, but our judgement will evolve with the story development, when we cruise into the coda, we can all more or less identify ourselves in them, these are two sterling performance equipped with blood and flesh, but as always, LEADING ACTOR race is so packed in 2007, only Linney pounces into my Top 10 LEADING ACTRESS chart, also it is a cruel reminder for me, another superb Hoffman's performance has been crossed out from my watch-list. Finally, I must hail unyieldingly for this under-appreciated indie fare, it enlightens us enormously in how to be a good person, a good son/daughter, and how to correctly face our filial responsibility without being overwhelmed by our own senses of guilt and fear, also hope soon there will be some scoop of Tamara Jenkins' next project, an eight-year gap has already been criminally too long.

Directed by Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages" is an intermittently interested drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney. They play a middle aged brother and sister who struggle to take care of their elderly father, played by Philip Bosco."The Savages" is at its best when its observing as these two siblings, both dysfunctional writers, move in with each another and tentatively expose their feelings in subtle, guarded and tangential ways. Filled with self-loathing and deep insecurities, these two characters are expert at skirting around issues and putting on false facades.Unfortunately, such moments are few and far between. Though the film is riveting whenever it centres on its sibling relationship, it eventually degenerates into a sentimental melodrama, in which the duo's father slowly slips into dementia.Incidentally, the film's title offers multiple readings. It refers to the literal surname of Hoffman and Linney's characters, their fear of "becoming savages who neglect their father", and also the "savagery" of their father himself, who was an abusive, mean dad for most of their childhood lives. The film suggests that the duo's present dysfunctions are a result of their dad, but also that he's become a scapegoat who absorbs all blame.8/10 – Worth one viewing.

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.