The Savages
This was a difficult review to write; even with my brilliant companion’s astute analysis, I am not sure I can distill the dollar value of The Savages for you, my Constant Readers, in a way that will sound properly reverent of its merits or critical of its flaws. In The Savages, Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are siblings of that name whose artistically rich (and competitive) lives are suddenly interrupted by the need to take care of their father (Philip Bosco), crippled by dementia. They have been estranged from their father, with whiffs of reasons why wafting up through their talk, and they are rather too busy even to keep up with each other. Was their father a monster or only metaphorically so? Who was he worse to? I did like that it wasn’t discussed; siblings would not need to hash it out in a way that an outsider would need to understand what happened in their lives - they just act out in their own weird ways in their adult lives.
Linney’s character seems to be stuck in a stall, professionally, romantically (walled off in many ways); Hoffman sublimates his own problems to remain functional and reaches a measure of success by not succumbing as Linney has. Interestingly, Hoffman plays a Brecht scholar, and in one of his lessons he adroitly describes this very film: The Savages is more about thinking than emotion, more about argument than only suggestion, and it follows a narrative rather than having a structured plot arc per se.
We do not see the emotional arc of the characters so much as cut a slice neatly along the linear path which was interrupted by this tangle of sudden familial intimacy. To get through this moment, they must rationalize why they are helping a man they did not feel supported by, and do so during a time which most people would need support, not spend days rejecting their only ally. They must brandish their hypocrisies at each other while behaving compassionately, at least. It’s an interesting and actorly script, but one that feels like it goes nowhere in many ways as a result of all this great deep rooting around. It’s an odd story with these elements - for a long time it feels like only a character study with moments of pain and awkwardness dropped in as if in an experiment.
Linney tangles with a delicious combination of guilt and superiority, seasoned with a dollop of humility and fear of becoming that bourgeois middle class white complainer. She visibly tangles with her emotions, whereas Hoffman barrels about wearing his intellectual detachment on his sleeve. His emotional moments are tightly guarded but he’s no robot. Even while I was hoping something would happen, their portrayals kept me interested.
Ultimately, however, the movie left me cold by forgoing those bourgeois conceits like the arc of a character growing or changing, or an emotional climax. Call me hokey if you want. I just would have liked more heart in there somewhere. But the acting is superb and it’s worth seeing just for that. By no means watch this over the holidays but pursue its scholarly merit on safe ground.
MPAA Rating R-some sexuality and language
Release date 12/31/07
Time in minutes 113
Director Tamara Jenkins
Studio Fox Searchlight
