The Savages | 
 enlarge | Actors: Philip Bosco, Guy Boyd, Maddie Corman, Peter Frechette, Michael Higgins
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.98
Buy Used: $3.49
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Rating:  65 reviews
Sales Rank: 4422
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd-video, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Number Of Items: 1
Running Time: 114
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: FOXD2250679D
UPC: 024543506799
EAN: 0024543506799
ASIN: B0014GI6I2
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Studio: Tcfhe Release Date: 04/22/2008 Run time: 113 minutes Rating: R
Amazon.com
It's almost impossible to describe The Savages in a way that makes it sound as richly engaging and enjoyable as it is. The story sounds bleak: Two unhappy siblings--Wendy (Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me) and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote)--are forced to grapple with their dying father (Philip Bosco, Damages) as he slips into dementia. But this spare outline doesn't capture the wealth of human detail that the script and performances contain. Linney and Hoffman vividly portray the sort of cluttered, precarious relationship that brothers and sisters can have, thick with past grievances but also unspoken affections and connections that can't even be articulated. As Wendy and Jon struggle to make some kind of peace with their difficult father, watching these wonderfully understated yet compelling actors is a pleasure unto itself. But the script and direction deserve these actors; filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) finds honest emotion and sly, sideways humor in the starkness of mortality. She doesn't force any easy epiphanies on her story, but lets the characters find solace through their own clumsy efforts. Anyone who appreciates the messiness of humanity--the territory that Hollywood movies seem to have surrendered to smart indie films like The Squid and the Whale, Little Children, or The Good Girl--will find The Savages a smart, genuine, and empathic portrait of life. --Bret Fetzer
Beyond The Savages 
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Stills from The Savages
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| Customer Reviews: Read 60 more reviews...
 Aversion to old age disgust November 24, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
If you do not enjoy fecal matter and dying seniors as an entertaining evening, even despite the reciprocal potential reality of your own life (unless you're parents are 80+ and soon to be dead) and those dying seniors you may or may not have experienced, then THIS MOVIE IS NOT FOR YOU.
I was disgusted, please, do not waste your time UNLESS you've over 50 years of age, OR if you are seeking to gain false ficticious comparables for your own aging and soon to be dying parents.
NOW, if you're willing to sacrifice 30 minutes of your life to endure the first 4 scenes, with such expectations as to further urudite your future experiences regarding your decaying and disfunctional family, THEN PLEASE WATCH THIS FILM.
WARNING, I couldn't make it through my dinner, while watching the first 20 minutes. Some might praise this film for it's depiction of reality, which many films avoid, however ONLY a reality so narrow as is required for you to FIRST decide if this film is for you, by following my above criteria.
mid-life humor meets family heartache November 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
When the elderly Lenny has a "toileting incident," and his girl friend Doris dies, his baby boomer children from whom he has been long estranged travel from New York to Sun City, Arizona, to care for their dad. Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) relocate Lenny to Buffalo, New York, where they put him in a "nursing home." There are curled family photos to sort through, bingo twice a week, reams of forms to sign, and palpable angst about what they've done and how everyone will cope. "We're taking better care of him," says Jon, "than he did of us." Lenny suffers from dementia and "disinhibition." Jon is 42 and single, has high cholesterol, and just lost his Polish girlfriend. Wendy is 39 and single, has a boyfriend who's married, pops Xanax for her nerves, and hopes to jump start her freelance writing career with a grant. Writer and director Tamara Jenkins was nominated for an Oscar for combining mid-life humor and family heartache in a destiny that awaits us all -- the role reversal when aging children must care for their aged parents.
Pulls very few punches November 13, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Billed as a dark comedy, 'The Savages' is certainly not standard movie fare but I think it's a film that we're richer for having around. Many have tackled end-of-life issues before but very few have done it like this. It is an unsentimental, unapologetic, slice-of-life depiction of two middle aged siblings, Linney (in an Oscar-nominated turn) and Hoffman, managing the rapid mental deterioration and death of their estranged, abusive father and the process - physiological and logistical - that entails.
It averts its gaze from none of the practical and emotional issues met by everyone whose family members live so long. From scatological problems to the appalling reality of nursing homes to the pressures of guilt, it covers the bases. It does punctuate it with moments of humor and sprinkles knowingly wry observations of sibling dynamics throughout. But there are no saccharine reconciliations or dramatic changes of heart in the last act to pull the punches. Things just happen and the people react as we all do - with integrity and responsibility in some areas and utter cowardice and flakiness in others. And with many things left unsaid.
My only real nit to pick is a slight sense of self-indulgence in the characters' professions. Everyone but the father is in the theater (or wants to be). It leads to a bit of inside humor that took me out of the movie a few times. (If you know who Bertolt Brecht is, it could open up another level of Hoffman's character to you. He briefly summarizes Brecht's epic philosophy at one point.) But it's not a huge liability.
Linney and Hoffman are, of course, impeccable but I believe Philip Bosco, who plays the largely silent role of the father, deserves praise as well. He speaks volumes with exhausted eyes and resigned yet pained stillness.
REAL November 2, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hoffman is first rate, as always. I've never really been a Linney fan, but I could really relate to this character. Bosco was brilliant. I can only say this film's portrayal of the scenario was REAL. It struck a nerve... was raw, intense, funny at times, ironic. A real treasure of acting and filmmaking.
The Fruits of Narcissism October 30, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
It is hard to watch a movie when none of the characters are likable enough to even care about them. The father and son's characters seemed believable to me, but Wendy completely lost me. But then what would one expect from a forty year old spinster whose lofty relationship aspiration is a love-HATE affair with a married man? Watch the movie for the men's acting, but don't expect to get any edification on family relationships. The best I can say for this movie is that it raises the question (but gives no answers) of caring for elderly members of our families who are distinctly failing.
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