"The Savages"*** 1\2 (out of ****)
Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) is a 39 year old woman, having an affair with a married man, Larry (Peter Friedman). She is an aspiring writer who has been trying to receive a grant so she can produce her play, a semi-autobiography on her childhood. Wendy is also a self-absorbed woman always looking to be the victim and have others feel pity for her.
When we first meet her she has just learned the results of a test from a recent doctor visit. Everything has come back positive but she tells her lover it may lead to cancer, so he can comfort her. When they make love she just lays there.
Her brother is Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman). A drama professor who is also self-absorbed. He is in love with a Polish immigrant whom he has been seeing for three years. Her visa has been denied. She will have to leave the country unless she gets married. Jon, 42, does not want to rush into marriage. Even if it means keeping his girlfriend in the country. So, he drives her to the airport.
"The Savages" tells the story how these two people have to learn to take responsibility and deal with their actions. When their abusive father,Lenny (Philip Bosco), whom they have been out of contact with for years, suddenly starts to show signs of dementia it is determined he can no longer be left alone. So Wendy and Jon must try to reconnect with their father and take care of him. When Jon first hears of his father's condition in the middle of the night, he ask if he can call back later the next day. He has an early class tomorrow. He's too busy to hear about his father's health.
While the family name may be "savage" it also refers to the emotional relationship the family has had with each other. Heartless and ruthless. Non caring.
In the beginning moments of "The Savages" I was afraid the film was going to be too cynical. If a film is going to revolve around heartless, cold characters it will become difficult for the film to sustain an audience's attention. Who really wants to watch a film about people you don't like and feel no sympathy for?
But the film is able to toll that fine line between creating characters who are cold to the core but give them heart. The events dealing with their father begin to change them. The relationship between the brother and sister becomes stronger as they learn to deal with problems instead of running away from them.
The film does follow the cliche that a woman is more sensitive and caring since it is in Wendy we see the biggest change. She is the one who immediately changes heart towards her father. When Jon suggest putting him in a nursing home Wendy resist. She cannot accept the fact her father's health is so bad he needs constant attention. She cannot accept how fast the dementia has set in.
The film was written and directed by Tamara Jenkins. To her credit she is able to make a film about serious subjects and find humor in them. "The Savages" is actually a bit of a black comedy. One funny scene deals with "movie night" at the nursing home. Each resident is allowed to pick a movie on a particular night. Lenny selects an Al Jolson film. We see Jolson apply "black face" and at that very moment Wendy turns around and notices a black family sitting behind her, offended by the movie. She and Jon slouch down in their seats.
Philip Seymour Hoffman had quite a good year in 2007 appearing in three acclaimed films. He was nominated for "best supporting actor" for his work in Mike Nichols' "Charlie Wilson's War", which I reviewed and found somewhat over-rated. He was also in Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead", which was my favorite performance of the year. His performance in "The Savages" bears some resemblance to his work in the Lumet film. He is a desperate man. A man who wants to "feel" and enjoy life but had too many scars from the past to do so. He doesn't want to hurt anyone and doesn't want to get hurt.
You could say the same about Laura Linney. One of my favorite modern actresses. She too appeared in a family about a family coming to terms with itself, "The Squid and the Whale". Linney plays Wendy as a woman who makes one bad mistake after another just so she can face disappointment. Why else have an affair with a married man? Constantly lie? And always want to be the victim?
"The Savages" was nominated for two Oscars. One for best actress and best screenplay. From what was nominated at the show perhaps Linney did give the best performance and was wrongly overlooked. Then again, what's new?
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