The Philip Seymour Hoffman festival continues as I sit down with another of his films. He provides a solid performance here again, but the real kudos goes to his co-star Laura Linney who snagged an Oscar nomination out of the film.
Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco) is a grouchy old man who finds that his catatonic girlfriend of twenty years has died and he’s left out in the cold. His children, Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (Laura Linney) are called in to take charge of their father. Neither of them is particularly stable.
Wendy temps and uses her office jobs for supplies and postage to send out letters for grants to fund her play and Jon is working on a book about German poet/playwright/theatre director Bertolt Brecht. Wendy has been having a longtime affair with a married man and Jon’s lady is from Poland and her visa expires.
Instead of marrying her and “complicating things” he lets her be deported, but he cries when she cooks him eggs. Into these two people’s problems steps their father who is suffering from senile dementia. They have to band together to deal with him and may well learn something about themselves in the process.
The Savages covers grounds that we might not want to tread as it deals with dealing with failure, old age, and our eventual demises. That being said there are some moments of comedy to laugh us out of thinking about those upcoming events. Hoffman has to act while hooked up to an odd device to help his strained back and has him with a forced deranged smile.
He gets news that his sister has gotten funding for her play and is on the upward path while his book seems to languish. He praises her, but you can tell that he’s feeling “oh woe is me” inside even has he’s hooked up to what appears to be an instrument of torture.
Linney also has some moments to shine as she has to care for her senile father and gets more than she bargained for in a scene on a plane that is both horrific and hilarious.
Her madness comes to a head in a scene where she hunts down a purloined big red pillow at her father’s nursing home. Again, it’s mad and funny at the same time, but the character has put all of the frustration of her life into making sure that her father has this pillow.
When she finds it and brings it to him (yanking it away from a lady in a wheelchair!) and he didn’t want it in the first place – adding even more to her frustration. All parts are masterfully acted and even Bosco excels in his limited role as a man facing the fact that he doesn’t have control over his mind and body anymore.
It’s both a poignant and painful film that causes us to look at old age, frustration, and failure, but it also gives us something to laugh at.
The Savages is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) and is enhanced for 16x9 televisions. Special features include the 20 minute “About the Savages,” two extended scenes, a photo gallery, and some trailers for other Fox DVDs.
Masterfully acted and Linney was well singled out for her performance, the Savages shows us the savages of old age and our capacity to not live up to our dreams. It also shows us that we have opportunity to reconnect with our family and dreams.
The Savages is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for a May 26th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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