Jon and Wendy Savage are two siblings who have spent their adult years trying to recover from the abuse of their abusive father, Lenny Savage. Suddenly, a call comes in that his girlfriend has died, he cannot care for himself with his dementia and her family is dumping him on his children. Despite the fact Jon and Wendy have not spoken to Lenny for twenty years and he is even more loathsome than ever, the Savage siblings feel obliged to take care of him. Now together, brother and sister must come to terms with the new and painful responsibilities with their father now affecting their lives even as they struggle with their own personal demons Lenny helped create.
Genre(s): Comedy, Drama
Runtime: 114 minutes
Rating: 7.4/10 (12,578 votes)
Release Date: 19 January 2007
Country: USA
Languages: English, German, Cantonese
Company: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Sound: SDDS, Dolby Digital, DTS
MPAA: Rated R for some sexuality and language.
Director(s): Tamara Jenkins
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Producer(s):
Anthony Bregman - executive producer
Jim Burke - executive producer
Anne Carey - producer
Lori Keith Douglas - co-producer
Ted Hope - producer
Alexander Payne - executive producer
Jim Taylor - executive producer
Erica Westheimer - producer
Fred Westheimer - executive producer
Writer(s):
Tamara Jenkins - (written by)
Cast:
Laura Linney - Wendy Savage
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Jon Savage
Philip Bosco - Lenny Savage
Peter Friedman - Larry
David Zayas - Eduardo
Gbenga Akinnagbe - Jimmy
Cara Seymour - Kasia
Tonye Patano - Ms. Robinson
Guy Boyd - Bill Lachman
Debra Monk - Nancy Lachman
Music: Stephen Trask
Anthony Bregman - executive producer
Jim Burke - executive producer
Anne Carey - producer
Lori Keith Douglas - co-producer
Ted Hope - producer
Alexander Payne - executive producer
Jim Taylor - executive producer
Erica Westheimer - producer
Fred Westheimer - executive producer
Writer(s):
Tamara Jenkins - (written by)
Cast:
Laura Linney - Wendy Savage
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Jon Savage
Philip Bosco - Lenny Savage
Peter Friedman - Larry
David Zayas - Eduardo
Gbenga Akinnagbe - Jimmy
Cara Seymour - Kasia
Tonye Patano - Ms. Robinson
Guy Boyd - Bill Lachman
Debra Monk - Nancy Lachman
Music: Stephen Trask
Posted on: November 1, 2007
August 5th, 2008
Tamara Jenkins has written and directed a fine description of relationsbetween siblings. Wendy (Laura Linney) is a writer who is struggling toget funding for her project and has a relationship with a married man.Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a professor of theater who is justwriting a book about one of the greatest theater influence, BertoltBrecht. Siblings have not seen each other in a while. Suddenly theirfather (Philip Bosco) has got old and children are forced to take careof their father with whom children haven't been so close to. Wendy andJon have had a poor childhood which have clearly affected their lives.
Jenkins uses Brecthian method, alienation (vermensdung) for charactersto see themselves from another perspective. Jenkins clearly knows herfield. I was intrigued by the fact because I personally work in thefield of theater. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney make touchingand subtle roles. Jenkins shows her skills as a director as well as herwriting skills. Jenkins has managed capture the essence of sibling-hoodwith great and bad spices.
September 1st, 2008
Films rarely capture real life, relatable moments, let alone with anykind of regularity, but Tamara Jenkins' "The Savages" does it. Theterrific script is brought to life by really two of the greatest actorsworking today in Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman. "Savages" isa deeply human drama that focuses on one of the more difficult aspectsof aging and family, but with a natural sense of humor all the same.But it's not devoid of any artistic touch either. Jenkins puts someserious thought into her directing and like most (good) films writtenand directed by the same person, even the smallest of ideas and themescome out of this film.
Linney and Hoffman play two middle aged siblings (Wendy and Jon) whohad little to no parental influence in their lives, so when they findthat their father, who has been on the other side of the country forover twenty years with a woman that wasn't their mother, is sufferingfrom dementia, they must find a new living situation for him.
The drama centers around these two sibling who are struggling enough tofind direction in their own lives, let alone being able to help theirestranged father. Their relationship is touching and so profoundly realon screen in a way that only these two incredible actors could do.Honestly, there are few better real-life and also versatile actorsworking right now.
Jenkins deserves the applause too, however. In addition to a scarilyreal script, she adds several touches to the film itself with herdirecting, playing a lot with the rhythm of the film, speeding certainparts up for dramatic effect and slowing others down to elicit morereflection from the viewer. The film does feel long for only being acouple hours, but it's not enough to really hurt the honesty andtruthfulness of this film.
Even for those that can't directly relate to having to make importantdecisions for a parent who can no longer make them for themselves, thisfilm finds great poignancy. The entry point is with the protagonists aswe relate to their busy and unfruitful lives and contemplate how wewould respond in their situation. Wendy is the more emotional one whofeels guilty while Jon is more level-headed and practical about it.It's a great dynamic and one which both actors thrive with.
This is one of those family, life-like dramas that really hits it onthe head with a particular aspect of life at its most relatable. Iteven uses the fact that Wendy wants to stage a play based on herchildhood and relationship with her father to have Jenkins state herconcern as to whether the film comes across as "middle class whining."The answer is that it doesn't. The struggles in these characters' livesare too real and founded in the natural truth about relationships.
September 10th, 2008
An actor's piece if there ever was one, Tamara Jenkins' marvellousfamily drama, (the title refers to their surname), is the kind of smallindependent movie that gives small independent movies a good name andmakes you wonder why the big studios can't be this smart andintelligent when handling similar material. Given the subject matter,(siblings bond when forced to care for their estranged, ailing father),you may balk at the lack of saccharine sentimentality on view butJenkins doesn't do saccharine. This is a painfully funny and realisticpicture in which Jenkins, who both wrote and directed, is blessed withthree terrific performances.
As the scatter-brained, academic would-be playwright, Laura Linney isblissfully on-the-ball and is matched perfectly by Philip SeymourHoffman as her touchingly prosaic brother, failures both, in life andin love but without an ounce of bitterness at having been abandoned bythe father they are now forced to care for. They are born optimistssuffering the slings and arrows of the outrageous fortune bestowed onthem and who take to the task of finding a home for their father,(Philip Bosco, completing the trio of brilliant performances), not as achore but as a labour of love.
Given their lack of what passes as practical experience of the world,their resilience and strength are all the more extraordinary. Best ofall, all three players are a believable family unit whose livestranscend the time we spend with them on the screen. There is a feelingof continuity here; it's easy to picture these people living a lifebefore the unfolding of the events portrayed and when the film ends wecarry their thoughts and feelings with us from the cinema.
October 4th, 2008
It's rare form of art that only occasionally sees the light of day inHollywood. With only a few words and simplistic (or should I saysimple) events, a whole range of emotions are portrayed in this movie,and I can't help but feel that "we've all been there" feeling. I mean,who hasn't spent a day or even more with a member of a family withoututtering one word to him/her? Who hasn't gone irritated over stupidtrivial things such as pillows and flowers and overreacted? Most of thetime, it's the loved ones that are close to us that get the whole punchin the face from this, and ironically, they're not the ones that canhelp. Consider this scene. Hoffman finds out that his sister Linny hasbeen lying to him about his grantsmanship seven or eight times in arow, and she takes the situation at the wrong end and strikes back bysaying that he has no business butting in her private life. "Policing"is a very good word. When has that not happened in a typical family?Teenager: Oh! Mom! You're ruining my life! Stop it! Just stop!
It all starts from childhood, and it grows on you while you don't. Youjust stay that emotionally insecure child who lacked affection andretaliates by not seeking it once grown up, or not giving it. EmileZola once wrote: We are all the images of our parents. I should add tothat quote siblings as well. And that's true no matter how you look atit. They're the ones we spend most of our time with, the ones we getthe most mad at, the ones we want to get rid of our lives and once wehave the FINANCIAL abilities (note that it's only the financial onethat gives us a presumed power to act as we will, while we lack otherobvious abilities), we separate from them. But could we have livedwithout them? Could we have learned about life and love without them?If love lacks there, it's going to lack for the rest of our lives, andonly an emotional upheaval of great proportion can switch that littlelight bulb in our head and tell us: Stop and Stare! Look at yourself!No matter how hard you have tried, you are the spitting image of yourparents!
Is there a way to get out of this? No. Is there a way to live withthis? Yes. How is that possible? Just like it's possible for a motherto love a child, it's also possible to love another, and mostimportantly love yourself.
Anyway, there's whole spectrum of ideas that come out this movie, whichis again, a beautiful piece of art.
October 21st, 2008
This drama slash comedy indie film is a great film to see. The film hasto do with a real life problem that everyone has gone through or willgo through. Discussing what to do with a loved one when they are of oldage. The two children of the film which are Laura Linney and PhillipSeymour Hoffman are sister and brother who have to make a decisionabout there old father who was never really in their lives. The fatherwas played by Philip Bosco. The film tackles the awkward feeling ofputting a loved one in an old folks home and how the daughter and sondeal with it even though they weren't close with the father. Thedaughter (Laura Linney) also has problems with her life which is notknowing what step to take in life. She puts herself in a meaninglesssexual relationship that she knows is going nowhere and she also hasproblems at work. The son (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) is an unmarried 44year old. While dealing with their own problems they have to deal withtheir old father who is dieing. All these characters are all sodifferent and live in different places and the only thing that bringsthem together is blood. The films theme is about taking care of family.The film also makes a big point about old folks homes, which is sayingthat the way they look on the outside and all the commercials showingold people how much it is fun, it is really covering up the sad truththat people go there and die. The film shows the real old folks homeand how the characters choose and deal with it.
November 4th, 2008
This story was a real life family drama. It's about 2 middle aged kidswhom are estranged from their father. He lives across the country andis slowly developing dementia. His girlfriend dies and they must comeget him and take him home. They place him in a nursing home. It'sstressful on everyone. His daughter, Wendy, is having an affair with amarried man and is not that successful at writing plays. His son, Jon,is not married and seems not to care that his girlfriend must leavebecause her green card ran out. Both kids must rely on each other todeal with their father.
The movie has a humorous tone to it. It's not a hard nosed drama. Alsothe acting was good. But Linney and Hoffman usually deliver goodperformances.
FINAL VERDICT: The acting and story make it entertaining enough towatch.
November 13th, 2008
This is the story of a brother and sister dealing with the mentaldeterioration of their father. Tamara Jenkins (who wrote thescreenplay) must certainly have gone through such an experience; youare spared no details. If seeing a man writing on a bathroom wall withhis own excrement is more than you want to see, then perhaps this movieis not for you.
But the main thrust of the story involves the relationship between thesiblings. Such an intense situation is bound to bring out raw emotionsdating back to childhood, and we see that here.
This is maybe the most realistic movie I have ever seen. As in life,when experiencing such highly charged moments you tend to notice themost insignificant things and "The Savages" emphasizes that. Thingslike the rustle of a nurse's skirt or the sound of a door closing.
Be aware that if you have ever gone through something like what isdetailed here, then the movie will provoke painful memories. That my becathartic or it may be of comfort to realize the commonality of suchexperiences, but it may just leave you with difficult memories.
Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney both turn in qualityperformances.
Another movie with a similar theme that is equally as good, or better,is "I Never Sang for My Father," with Gene Hackman and Melvyn Douglas.
December 4th, 2008
… made this garden-variety indie film almost unwatchable for me.Which is surprising, as she usually turns in a perfectly decentperformance. (Linney was vastly overrated in an earlier indie, "You CanCount on Me" — it was her costar, Mark Ruffalo, whose acting wasdead-on perfect and who really carried the film — but she's usuallynot this inept.) Actors are eager to be thought of as smart and sogenerally have a hard time playing "stupid" or "naive" with any realconviction; look at how gratingly over-the-top awful Frances McDormandand George Clooney were in "Burn After Reading," or look at how crudelyJohn Mills played the village idiot in "Ryan's Daughter" (which ofcourse netted him an Oscar!). Mills screwed up his face and maintaineda puzzled squint throughout that film, but normally actors playingstupid tend to let their jaws go slack (as if dumbfounded) and widentheir eyes like gullible kids — and both are ploys that Linney resortsto in "The Savages," in which she plays not only dumb but InsufferabyWinsome.
Ironically, an actress who has seemed heavy-handed in the past — MargoMartindale, who played the selfish white-trash mother in"Million-Dollar Baby," a caricature that almost sank that movie — wasexcellent here as a nursing-home administrator. (It just goes to showthat director Tamara Jenkins can, at least at times, evoke more subtleperformances than Clint Eastwood, who unfortunately seems to wallow instereotypes lately; witness the cartoonishly racist civilians thatpopulated "Flags of Our Fathers.")
For the record, Philip Hoffman was superb, as usual, but his charactercame off too frumpy, slobbish, and pathetic; college instructors have abit more style, even the lowly, struggling academic he was supposed tobe. And Philip Bosco seemed much too young, virile, and fit to play thedemented father; he sounded, at times, as if he were channeling AlanArkin in "Little Miss Sunshine" and was just as unfunny andoff-putting.