Sharp, funny, and acerbic...Movies that are as truthful and observant as this one are rare.
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12/03/07
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The Savages (2007)
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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
One of those small, perfectly crafted, bittersweet family dramas it touches on so many truths it’s almost painful to watch at times.
12/03/07
Top CriticEloquently makes the case that Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney are the most dextrous actors of their generation.
12/02/07
It's obvious that Jenkins is inspired by the work of Canadian writer/director Denys Arcand ("The Barbarian Invasions"), but she doesn't dig deep enough to capture the complexities and nuance that the material demands.
12/02/07
Hoffman and Linney sadly never click, in spite of their strong performances...
12/01/07
The name of the movie is one of those insufferable cutesy puns...but don't let that deter you from a film that achieves the rare balance of being both hilarious and tragic.
11/30/07
[Bosco's] performance as a senior going through the motions of aging is hypnotic, heartbreaking, and dead-on. It's the kind of performance awards were created for.
11/30/07
Exactly like I thought it would be for about 96 of its 113-minute running time.
11/30/07
Lacks the ideal clarity that best supports what is incredibly caustic material. It's a misfire for Jenkins, but an interesting failure.
11/30/07
The movie also comes with the wistful sadness of a maturing filmmaker who understands that in matters of death, sorrow and black comedy often walk hand in hand.
11/30/07
Top CriticA fine middlebrow addition to the end-of-year sweepstakes, as good as expected, as bad as feared, and gone without a ripple.
11/30/07
The Savages does a good job keeping things in perspective by pointing out the "what can you do?" absurdity of it all. We all face mortality, and we can all laugh at it too.
11/30/07
Although The Savages is a better film for not being a cloying, schmaltzy tear-jerker, that doesn't mean that it's a movie you will necessarily enjoy.
11/30/07
How unfortunate the film with none.
11/30/07
The film successfully navigates the tricky waters of family dysfunction. A savagely funny/tragic/hopeful portrait of the way we are circa 2007.
11/30/07
...dual character study of two alienated siblings with an ironic interdependency. If the film ultimately feels small, Linney and Hoffman, two of our great actors, always keep it interesting.
11/29/07
The frequent outbursts of comedy help alleviate a tone that's appropriately muted and sad, and Jenkins should be credited for refusing to tack smiley-faces onto a tough, possibly lose-lose situation.
11/29/07
An engrossing family drama about old age, nursing homes, dementia, death and siblings trying to forge a new bond with each other.
11/29/07
At its best, The Savages captures the lunacy that comes with coping with sorrow.
11/29/07
While The Savages is a story about decrepitude and death, and chronicles a family whose wounds run too deep, it never has that claustrophobic, trapped-in-a-nightmare feeling of some dysfunctional family flicks.
11/29/07
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