Review of The Savages (2007) by Larry S — 06 Feb 2009

The thought of dying is frightening enough, and the thought of my mind wasting away before my body does is even more terrifying, but having to watch my mother endure that would be the worst of all, and seeing how the siblings portrayed in "The Savages" by Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman makes me imagine how my sister and I might would handle such an awful thing.

I'd certainly hope that my sister and I are a little more mature than these two characters, but I guess the jury is still out on that. Forgive me, I digress... "The Savages" is one of those films I tend to categorize as a Wallowing-in-Misery film, one in which all of the characters are absolutely miserable and, more often than not, leads to a not-terribly entertaining movie.

I can't say I found this one "entertaining," and it was even uncomfortable in spots, but I was almost forced to pay attention to it. Linney is spellbinding as the less-mature, but more caring sibling, and it is her issues on which the story tends to focus (but Hoffman as the brother has his share of troubles, too).

This film is certainly not Saturday-night popcorn fare, but it is a very interesting take on a situation, or set of situations, that could easily crop up in any of our lives, and is superbly acted by two of America's best film actors working today.