The Savages
Studio: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Rated: R
Cast: Philip Seymour Hofman, Laura Linney
Director: Tamara Jenkins
WorkNameSort: Savages, The
Our Rating: 4.50
Even with incredible performances in Charlie Wilson’s War and Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead, Philip Seymour Hoffman’s underplayed turn in The Savages may be his most impressive yet. It took 10 years for Tamara Jenkins to follow up on her bittersweet debut, The Slums of Beverly Hills, and her long-gestating sophomore effort is another bittersweet X-ray of dysfunctional family relations. Despite the obvious similarities in tone and style, however, The Savages brings with it a greater sense of craft and nuance. Some of that is in Jenkins’ keenly observed writing and mordant subject matter but most comes from the fascinating, three-dimensional performances of stars Laura Linney and Hoffman. The plot is simple: A father who never took care of his children forces them to find a way to take care of him … and, ultimately, themselves. Darkly humorous, The Savages is more a story of details than plot, as Jenkins paints a crumpled portrait of neurotic middle-age introspection, brittle relationships and human dignity. It could almost be accused of “middle-class whining” — something Linney’s character frets about — if not for its sharply observant conversations and strikingly personal performances.
This article appears in Jan 16-22, 2008.