Mini Review - The Savages

Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) and her brother John (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are both single, on either side of 40, and both playwrights.
The difference is that John is a theater professor at a Buffalo, N.Y., college, while Wendy works temp jobs in Manhattan and applies for one playwright fellowship after another. John has a girlfriend of three years whom he has avoided marrying; while Wendy sleeps with a married man who lives in her building. These two are going nowhere.
When their estranged father (played with wonderfully and tragic confusion and humiliation by Philip Bosco) starts to lose his mind they have to go an pick up the pieces. He's been living with a widow in Sun City, Ariz., and she has just passed away. The early signs of dementia have set in and Dad needs to move into a nursing home, and Wendy and John must figure out what to do.

Linney and Hoffman and wonderful in these roles, and their chemistry as sister and brother is perfect. The comfort the show, and the sideways glances speak volumes about the years these two broken people have been crumpling away together. Linney, always going for truth than awards friendly show boating, is perfect as Wendy, a woman far too intelligent for where she is, but far to immature to really go places. Hoffman, again is playing frumpy brilliantly. He is just as childish as Wendy but is more grounded in reality and far more bitter than his sister ever is. It is almost as though her and his fathers presence is interrupting his own demise.

Tamara Jenkins achieves some real poignance, too, as her characters face the imminent death of their father. With the end of his life, it is time for them to ask themselves” What have we done with ours?

Although the dismal New York setting is in stark contrast to Sun Cities gaudy colours, achieving a melancholy effect, it is the humor that will stay with you.
Jenkins has delivered a script full of laughs, but smart ones that are never out of place. The dialogue is perfectly delivered by the cast with impeccable timing. And a slightly sunny and hopeful yet open ended finale will ensure you leave the cinema smiling.

I was lucky enough to see this at the London Film Festival and stand next to Laura Linney (she is much more stunning in person). I stayed for the Q&A and was stunned that even with the stars that were attched, Jenkins had a hell of a time getting funding for this film. Such a tragedy that such a smart and precise script has such a hard time, but “I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry” does not.

As for awards potential, the strongest possibilities would be for Linney in Best Actress and Jenkins in Best Original Screenplay. Out side shots for Hoffman (he has “Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead” as an awards magnet) and Bosco (supporting actor is so crowded, yet it could happen, especially the plane scene)
B