A humane film about human experiences.
Emotional entanglement, self-awareness
To put it simply, "The Savages" is the most human look at life I've seen in theaters this year.
If I had to sum up "The Savages" in one sentence, I think it's the most humanistic work I've seen this year.
It's incredibly easy to relate to if you have ever ever seen some relative or family friend of yours get old and then forget who you are due to some sort of elder person's disease.
If you've ever had a family member or friend who lost their memory due to some sort of geriatric illness, you're naturally feeling the same way.
It features three of the year's finest performances from Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Phillip Brosco, all of whom radiate(reveal) on the screen as real, ordinary but complex, people.
The three leading actors of "The Savages" have all contributed outstanding acting skills, showing us the ordinary, real and complex characters.
Linney and Hoffman play brother and sister, two writers who have an argumentative but loving way of getting along.
Lynne and Hoffman's sister and brother, a writer pair, get along well despite their occasional bickering.
Brosco plays their father, who has done something really, well, "dirty," and has drawn the attention of the family that had been caring for him, who no longer wish to do so.
Bosco's father, who has done a very "dirty" thing, is swept away by the family that once took care of him.
From there, Linney and Hoffman's characters meet up with the father whom they haven't seen in years, and who was never very compassionate towards them.
From here, Lynne and Hoffman's characters meet their father. The two hadn't seen their father for years, and the father didn't have much affection for his children.
However, their father has dementia, and slowly begins to forget who they are.
However, the siblings' father has Alzheimer's and barely recognizes them.
Instead of their main concern being whether or not he's kind to them, the kids are afraid they won't be able to communicate with him at all.
The pair were worried that their father might not be kind enough to them, but now they fear that their father really won't be able to communicate with them.
The way Tamara Jenkins handles this, from both the perspective of the kids and the perspective of the father, is brilliant.
The director (Tamara Jenkins) is very clever about cutting into the story from the perspective of both the child and the father.
She really understands the way family relations work, as her film is spot-on (just right) in that aspect.
She really understands family relationships, and that's one of the reasons she's been able to show that so well in her work. The three performances are all great for their own reasons.
Three different performances are remarkable.
Linney plays a woman who is really confused with her life: she's having an affair with a married man who's ten years older than her, she lies to everyone she knows about things that aren't worth it, and she is having a lot of trouble getting produced as a writer.
Linney plays a middle-aged woman with a messed-up life: she has an inappropriate relationship with a married man 10 years her senior; she lies about things she shouldn't care about; and, as a writer, she keeps getting herself into trouble .
Hoffman, her older brother, has a really relaxed humanistic side to him, always countering Linney's loud worrisome actions with a calm, mind-processing technique.
Hoffman, who plays her older brother, is reassuring in dealing with complicated feelings, always restraining her younger sister from worrisome behavior in a calm and intelligent manner.
The chemistry between this brother-sister is one of the most realistic works of chemistry you'll find in a theater this year.
This film is very close to the real life in showing the complex emotional entanglement of the two brothers and sisters, and the image is very vivid.
Throw in Phillip Brosco - who absolutely conquers the dementia that his character has (my aunt has dementia, so I see her all the time and know that his face and way of talking and mannerisms are all spot on) - and you've got three characters who are so strong alone that they're enough reason to see this movie, funny-touching script and story aside.
Speaking of Philip Bosco, he did manage to challenge a character who needs to understand Alzheimer's (my aunt has Alzheimer's, so I know the character's facial expressions, speech, and eccentricities are accurate of). Therefore, this film is first-class in terms of performance and script, and it is definitely worth watching.
While all three performances were incredible, I'd have to say that my favorite performance came from Hoffman.
Although all three perform well, I prefer Hoffman's performance.
Linney played the confused-wreck card very well, but it's not like she's the first actress to confront or conquer that territory.
Linnie's role as a middle-aged woman who is confused about her life is impeccable, but it's not new territory after all.
Brosco was astoundingly realistic as a man with dementia, but his role doesn't carry very far beyond that.
Bosco played an Alzheimer's patient, but there was nothing deeper to dig into the role.
Hoffman's performance, while not "loud" in any way, is simply the best portrayal of an ordinary human being I've seen in years, if that makes any sense.
And Hoffman's performance, although from any point of view is not the kind of "everything crazy" acting, but just a simple sketch of this ordinary character, but it just gives this character something deeper.
Everything, from the way he reacts to what people say, to the way he talks, to the way he expresses emotion when he's feeling it - all of it is executed so well that I can't believe that he was actually acting.
On every level - whether it's the way he responds to people, the way he speaks, or the way he expresses his emotions - it's so perfect that I can't believe it's just acting.
The ending of the film is very humane.
And the end of the film, as I said at the beginning of the paragraph, is very humane.
It doesn't have any major twists or bangs, but it doesn't end on a nothing-note either.
It doesn't have any twists or gimmicks, but that doesn't mean its ending is bland and not deep enough.
It teaches us that the lessons we learn from one experience can help us deal with the next, and it's the many small messages like this and the very life-like feel of the film's craft that make it one of the most special films I had the experience of seeing at a theater this year.
This film conveys many seemingly trivial but very real life insights, and it makes us understand that all experiences in life may make our future life more meaningful. On this level, this is the best movie I've seen this year (2007)!
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