Review of Savages (2012) by Berni E — 25 Nov 2014

Given his past ability to explore complicated issues in compelling fashion, you might expect Oliver Stone to offer up an intriguing look at drug trafficking. Working from the book by Don Winslow - who spent six years researching the DEA and cartels, would give Stone a solid resource from which to draw. A welcomed return to Stone's darker side; "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps" and "World Trade Center" were almost insultingly faceless, a definite problem for a director whose best films exude righteous anger. Unfortunately, "Savages" generates little momentum from its moments of ruthless savagery with far too much downtime in between.

California dudes Ben and Chon (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) are dragged into a turf war with the expansion-minded Mexican cartel run by Salma Hayek's drug-war widow Elena, and her brutally amoral deputy Lado (Benicio del Toro). The Mexicans regularly show their power by creating and disseminating videos documenting torture and a litany of beheadings. Meanwhile, eighty miles over the border in Laguna Beach, Ben and Chon supply their ultra-potent genetically engineered strains to legal medical dispensaries but make their real money illegally shipping out-of-state. The product and its profits fuel the boys' lifestyle of neo-hippie decadence, embodied by the business partners' enthusiastic bedroom sharing of eco-friendly, hippie Ophelia (Blake Lively).

The Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move into their turf and demands that the trio partners with them. The merciless head of the cartel, Elena, and her brutal enforcer, Lado, underestimate the unbreakable bond among these friends. Ben and Chon -- with the reluctant, slippery assistance of a dirty DEA agent (John Travolta), wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.

Soul is something "Savages" sorely lacks and it feels inherently hollow. The screenplay (co-written by Stone) is a bit of mess, sloppily assembling a wide range of characters. One of serious issues with the movie usually occurs when the film's three young leads occupy the screen. Though they're competent, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively, and Aaron Johnson are hardly scintillating. Their performances fail in comparison to the completely outrageous performances delivered by Benicio Del Toro, Salma Hayek, and John Travolta. Plus, the young threesome and their love triangle never convincingly seduce the audience. "Savages" is a waste of Stone's time as he falls back on old habits of mayhem and provocation best left in the past.