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Savage Grace

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Savage Grace (2008)

42%
38%
50%
N/A
N/A
N/A
42 %
Reviews Counted: 74 Fresh: 31  Rotten:43 Average Rating: 5/10
 
Consensus: Though visually compelling, the lamentable characters in Savage Grace make for difficult viewing.
 

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Rated: Not Rated

Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins

Theatrical Release: May 28, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $243,055

Synopsis: Like his landmark debut SWOON, Tom Kalin's long-awaited follow-up is based on a shocking true story. This time around, Kalin uses the celebrated nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson as his source material in order to revisit one of the 20th century's most notorious... Like his landmark debut SWOON, Tom Kalin's long-awaited follow-up is based on a shocking true story. This time around, Kalin uses the celebrated nonfiction book by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson as his source material in order to revisit one of the 20th century's most notorious family tragedies. Julianne Moore (SAFE, SHORT CUTS) plays Barbara Daly, a damaged but beautiful woman who elevates her status when she marries Brooks Baekeland (Stephen Dillane), heir to a plastics fortune. The birth of a son, Tony (Eddie Redmayne), does nothing to solve Brooks and Barbara's conflicted relationship. As Tony grows older and the family relocates from New York City to Paris to Spain to Ibiza throughout the 1950s and '60s, Barbara's fanatical smothering has left her son a sheepish wreck. The fact that he's homosexual only makes matters worse. Unable to escape from his mother's clutches, Tony begins to lose his mind, spurring a fatal act that will destroy the family. SAVAGE GRACE finds Moore delivering one of her most electrifying and challenging performances. She brings humanity and credibility to a character who is deeply damaged. Kalin's bold decision to present six chapters in the family's saga, as opposed to taking a more traditional route, results in a richer and more intellectual work. Let it be known, SAVAGE GRACE has some truly dark material that will shock many viewers. But Kalin's artistry as a director keeps it from feeling like mere exploitation. [More]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Julianne Moore, Stephen Dillane, Eddie Redmayne, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde

Director: Tom Kalin
Screenwriter: Howard A. Rodman
Producer: Iker Monfort, Katie Rournel, Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon
Composer: Fernando Velazquez

Reviews

 
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Ratings Image
2/5

...more savagery than grace...

Full Review | comment Comment
07/25/08
Jim Lane
Sacramento News & Review
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/23/08
Deseret News, Salt Lake City
Ratings Image
2/5

Savage Grace is a movie that badly wants to shock you. The only thing that might raise an eyebrow here, however, is the shocking rate at which everyone lights up a cigarette every five minutes.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/18/08
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
2/4

Ultimately, I felt more sorry for Moore - giving her all to a skeezy, tabloid psychodrama - than for her self-absorbed character.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/18/08
Sean Means
Salt Lake Tribune
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B+

An appallingly handsome and creepy film entirely suiting the subject matter and repellent and alluring in equal measure. If you relish dishy tales of the depraved rich, it's like Thanksgiving in a movie.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/11/08
Shawn Levy
Oregonian
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3/4

Director Tom Kalin, who's making his second feature after 1992's Swoon, tells the real-life story of the Baekeland family in a subdued whisper, like a servant muttering backstairs about a rich master's failings.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/11/08
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
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2/5

A film as harsh, brittle and unbalanced as its characters.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/11/08
Empire Magazine
Ratings Image
N/A

The film boasts another sensational performance by Moore and a welcome return to feature directing by Kalin.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/08/08
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image
N/A

Kalin and Moore have done such a fine job creating this monster, you'll be inclined to forgive them for never quite figuring out what to do with her.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/06/08
Sean Burns
Philadelphia Weekly
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3/4

Though the characters may be repellent, the film permits you to feel sympathy.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/04/08
Liam Lacey
Globe and Mail
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
N/A

[Savage Grace] is like a Vanity Fair article; it's eye candy, with ... a creepy dysfunctional family drama thrown in to give it added value.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/03/08
Beverly Berning
culturevulture.net
Ratings Image
D+

The decor and costumes are authentic, but there's barely a moment in the picture that feels genuine in human terms.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/30/08
Frank Swietek
One Guy's Opinion
Ratings Image
2

Kalin makes some smart choices -- knowing the material is perverse enough, he doesn't amp things up with flashy editing or crazy camerawork -- but he doesn't care about these people.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Chris Hewitt (St. Paul)
St. Paul Pioneer Press
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1/4

It's a horror story, all right, but the reason for telling it remains unclear, and it seems like a waste of Kalin's evident talent.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Walter V. Addiego
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
c

Kalin fails to sustain a single tone with his direction or make his vision of the high life as revelatory as it is luxurious. As a director, he's just a tony interior decorator - the swell settings are more seductive than the characters.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Michael Sragow
Baltimore Sun
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3/4

Disturbing in the extreme, Savage Grace gives a guided history tour of a family as dysfunctional as they come.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Peter Canavese
Groucho Reviews
Ratings Image
N/A

For that particular someone, Savage Grace could be the perfect summer chiller.ca

Full Review | comment Comment
06/27/08
Carina Chocano
Los Angeles Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

If ever there was a film to extinguish any envy of the lifestyles of the rich and famous, Savage Grace is it.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/26/08
Colin Covert
Minneapolis Star Tribune
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image
2.5/4

Though the film looks elegant, with deceptively simple interiors creating an impression of great wealth, it feels remote. We're impressed by the work the actors are doing, yet the characters don't hold our interest.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/20/08
Moira MacDonald
Seattle Times
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5/10

More like an awful family's greatest hits than any sort of probing, comprehensive study.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/19/08
Tim Brayton
Antagony & Ecstasy
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