The Savages (2007)

Director:

Tamara Jenkins

Writer:

Tamara Jenkins (written by)

Release Date:

17 January 2008 (Singapore)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.

Plot Keywords:

Dementia | Crying | Cereal | Boyfriend Girlfriend Relationship | Retirement Home

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations

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
Rosemary Murphy	...	Doris Metzger
Hal Blankenship	...	Burt
Joan Jaffe	...	Lizzie
Sage Kirkpatrick	...	Real Estate Agent (as Laura Palmer)
Salem Ludwig	...	Mr. Sperry

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and language.

Runtime:

114 min | USA:113 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Cantonese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

USA:R (Approved No. 43278) | Canada:14A | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | Brazil:12 | Sweden:Btl | Hong Kong:IIA | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Argentina:13 | Portugal:M/12 | Finland:K-7 | Netherlands:12 | Australia:M | Canada:PG (Canadian Home Video rating)

Filming Locations:

Buffalo, New York, USA

Company:

Fox Searchlight Pictures

Trivia:

One of two films released in the same year co-starring Philip Seymour Hoffman which center around sibling relationships. The other is Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)

Goofs:

Continuity: Wendy and Kasia agree to be at the airport at 7AM. In the next scene, we see them eating breakfast and it is light outside. It would not be light in the morning in the NE in the winter. This error is repeated when they arrive at the airport.

Quotes:

Jon Savage: [about his girlfriend] She's moving back to Poland.
Wendy Savage: What,you and Kasia broke up?
Jon Savage: No,her visa expired.
Wendy Savage: So that's it? Her visa expires,and it's over.
Jon Savage: It's either that or we get married and no one's ready for that.

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 80th Annual Academy Awards (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Soldadi

Best independent film of 2007!

The Savages (2007) was written and directed by Tamara Jenkins. Jenkins gets everything right in this film about three family members who barely connect with each other. Laura Linney plays Wendy Savage--a NYC playwright who works as a temp and waits for an artistic breakthrough. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays her brother Jon, who teaches drama at a college in Buffalo. Although the siblings aren't particularly hostile towards each other, they clearly don't have a close or affectionate relationship.

A health crisis makes it necessary for the two to travel to Sun City, Arizona, to care for their father. We only see Lenny Savage as an old man with dementia. He's not exactly a warm and loving person as the film opens. Moreover, we learn that he wasn't a great parent before the dementia, either. Both his son and his daughter don't keep in touch with him, nor he with them. Now they have to deal with a crisis that forces them together.

Hoffman and Linney are two of he finest actors on the screen today, and, when they play off against each other, the result is movie magic. Everything rings true--their love/hate relationship, their professional jealousy, and their disapproval of each other's love life. They aren't exactly the two people best suited to make life and death decisions about their father, but that's the reality they face, and they have to deal with it as best they can.

I've written almost 200 reviews for IMDb, and I've never even considered mentioning the casting director. This review is the exception. My compliments to Jeanne McCarthy, who has filled this movie with an extraordinary set of actors in small roles. Everyone Wendy and Jon meet looks right for the role--nurses, psychologists, administrators, aides, students, etc., etc. It would be worth seeing the movie again just to watch the actors who aren't stars.

There's also an excellent supporting actor. Peter Friedman plays Larry, the married man with whom Wendy is having an affair. Their scene in a motel room is short but both powerful and poignant. (Actually, every scene in which Linney appears is powerful and poignant, but Friedman holds his own in this one.)

We saw the movie in a theater, but an intimate film of this type should do well on DVD. Incidentally, most of the movie takes place in Buffalo, New York, and director Jenkins obviously has a real feel for the city and its people.

This may be the best independent film of 2007. Don't miss it!