Review of The Savages (2007) by Shaun T — 03 Jan 2009

This is really just an average story, but it's done by all the right people, turning this into a great movie. Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are a perfect brother/sister match, and their chemistry on screen is outstanding.

I really liked the way this movie was shot, there's a very dark humor coming through in almost every scene. But the thing that truly stood out was how extremely well-written this movie was. Not only does it do a perfect job portraying the average person's life (things going wrong more than they go right, not knowing what to do with your life, not knowing if you've done anything with your life, etc.) but the dialogue is spot-on to what you'd hear/say in a real life conversation.

It's still a touching story, watching a brother and sister care for a man who never cared for them. As PSH says in the movie, they were treating their father much better than he ever treated them. It helps show us that odd aspect to life where we're always bound to our families, no matter how much we end up hating them.

There are several times you find yourself laughing at situations you really shouldn't be laughing at. You laugh more because it's so accurate as to what would probably happen rather than something actually being funny.

This is a very fun, sometimes deep, feel good movie to watch. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a god.