Its astringent humor is not funny ha-ha, it's funny-ouch.
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12/21/07
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The Savages (2007)
89
%
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Reviews Counted:162
Fresh:144
Rotten:18
Average Rating:7.5/10
Consensus: Thanks to a tender, funny script from director Tamara Jenkins, and fine performances from Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney, this film delivers a nuanced, beautifully three-dimensional look at the struggles and comforts of family bonds.
Theatrical Release:Nov 30, 2007 Limited
Box Office: $6,426,953
Synopsis: Director Tamara Jenkins made audiences sit for nearly a decade for her follow-up to the hilarious dark comedy SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS, but it's been worth the wait. Like her previous film, THE... [More]
Starring: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman
Director: Tamara Jenkins
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Reviews for The Savages
Top CriticPredictably unconventional, indulgently metafictional, and hesitant about going for its alluded intentions.
12/20/07
The sad reality of aging and the picture of adults who still need a push in the right direction are rarely so keenly observed and honestly delivered.
12/20/07
Assured and sharp, The Savages is only Jenkins' second feature-length film. You'd never know it.
12/20/07
Grimly funny and brazenly unsentimental, it has an ordinary, humdrum grit often missing even from indie movies.
12/20/07
Extremely powerful,unsentimental and bleakly comic story of a brother and sister entering middle age, but not fully adult, coping with their father's dementia and entry into a nursing home.
12/20/07
One of those genre-defying hybrids that are sometimes called dramedies, The Savages tiptoes along a particularly fraught emotional tightrope, balancing observant humor and deep sadness with uncommon grace.
12/20/07
Although the story may sound as dismal as Buffalo's weather, it's surprisingly funny. Not gag funny, but observation funny -- the absurdities of real life, seen and presented.
12/20/07
Top CriticExcellent performances mark "The Savages," with Linney and Hoffman each navigating characters who could have become unlikable had they not been shaded with nuance.
12/19/07
The Savages is a precious, pitch-perfect little film that finds humanity and mirth in the darkest of places.
12/18/07
So darned depressing in its observancy that it's no stretch to assume that writer/director Jenkins might have experienced something entirely similar first hand.
12/18/07
The script is kind of a bore and when it's not a bore it's dead set on simply being miserable for the sake of being miserable.
12/12/07
I wouldn't call the film inspirational — it is too well observed to succumb to easy sentiment — but its realism is patiently engaging and subtly insinuating
12/12/07
Top CriticBoth a delicious exercise in great acting and a richly refined comedy-drama--tangy and touching in equal measure.
12/11/07
Walking precariously between real world gravitas and the far too isolated and idiosyncratic, The Savages is a wonderful premise undermined by some unnecessary pretense.
12/06/07
It's an exemplary film, and far less depressing than it sounds.
12/06/07
Affecting adult drama has mature themes, content.
12/06/07
With the help of acting giants, [director Tamara] Jenkins turns The Savages into a twisted, bittersweet pleasure.
12/05/07
Top CriticTamara Jenkins returns with a story that squarely addresses the concerns of middle age, treating them with the gravity they deserve but also the forbearance and humor they often demand.
12/04/07
It's the clarity with which Jenkins sees it that makes the film extraordinary.
12/04/07
Latest News for The Savages
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January 25, 2008:
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January 11, 2008:
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