The Savages

'The Savages' is a humble humane look at a part of life. Tamara Jenkins tells a powerful comedic story of two siblings struggle with their estranged, demented and dying father. For me, the characters are easy to relate to as in Wendy, Jon and Lenny, I recognize many people I know. The story does not have much of an eventful plot. It's more a study of characters and relationship and, as I mentioned earlier, a look at part of life.

The portrayal of the brother-sister relationship by Linney and Hoffman is genuine and strong thanks to the real chemistry. I was reminded of another beautiful movie, 'You Can Count On Me' which also focused on sibling relationships (and also starred Laura Linney but in a completely different role) and it was interesting to compare the older brother-younger sister bond with the older sister-younger brother bond. Both Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are accomplished actors and it is not surprising that they were great and very natural. Philip Bosco too is brilliant as the demented father but we don't see anything of his character beyond that. The father-children is the third angle of the film and this too is authentically portrayed. The children are in a state of ambivalence about their father who was mean and abusive but whom they also want to help. Among the other performances, relative newcomer Gbenga Akinnagbe stands out.

What i liked most about it is the chemistry between the brothers but even the small moments between the main characters and the supporting ones was quite well shown within a limited screen-time, like the moment between Jon and Cara did display their true feelings and the few moments between Jimmy and Wendy show the impact it has on Wendy. Jenkins shows her good understanding of family relations and brings some of her own experience into the film. The struggle of the two siblings to get noticed, to deal with their own problems and that of their family is one many of us can associate with and it is cleverly shown with a touch of comedy in this genuine funny little film. i wanted to watch this movie at a theatre with a friend but she didn't seem too enthusiastic but I'm glad that I finally caught it. I'm looking forward to watching it on DVD again.