The Savages | 
| Actors: Philip Bosco, Guy Boyd, Maddie Corman, Peter Frechette, Michael Higgins
Studio: Twentieth Century Fox
Category: DVD
List Price: $27.98
Buy Used: $1.92
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Rating:  81 reviews
Sales Rank: 5443
Format: Ac-3, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Dvd, Subtitled, Widescreen, Ntsc
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Region: 1
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 114 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 7.5 x 5.3 x 0.6
MPN: 2250679
UPC: 024543506799
EAN: 0024543506799
ASIN: B0014GI6I2
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: April 22, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
It's almost impossible to describe The Savages in a way that makes it sound as richly engaging and enjoyable as it is. The story sounds bleak: Two unhappy siblings--Wendy (Laura Linney, You Can Count on Me) and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote)--are forced to grapple with their dying father (Philip Bosco, Damages) as he slips into dementia. But this spare outline doesn't capture the wealth of human detail that the script and performances contain. Linney and Hoffman vividly portray the sort of cluttered, precarious relationship that brothers and sisters can have, thick with past grievances but also unspoken affections and connections that can't even be articulated. As Wendy and Jon struggle to make some kind of peace with their difficult father, watching these wonderfully understated yet compelling actors is a pleasure unto itself. But the script and direction deserve these actors; filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) finds honest emotion and sly, sideways humor in the starkness of mortality. She doesn't force any easy epiphanies on her story, but lets the characters find solace through their own clumsy efforts. Anyone who appreciates the messiness of humanity--the territory that Hollywood movies seem to have surrendered to smart indie films like The Squid and the Whale, Little Children, or The Good Girl--will find The Savages a smart, genuine, and empathic portrait of life. --Bret Fetzer
Beyond The Savages 
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Stills from The Savages
Product Description
Movie DVD
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| Customer Reviews: Read 76 more reviews...
 wretchedly unhappy movie May 30, 2009
Book Bunny (Mendon, NY USA)
I would never have finished watching this movie if Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman had not been in it. These two are actors' actors. They just never have a false moment. This movie, however, is just plain sad. Spoiler alert: was the conclusion supposed to be a happy one for them because their dad died and they could get back to their own lives? I agree that it is a part of life that we all will have to cope with (if we arn't already) but it was despressing. I just expected more and was disappointed in the premise.
 The best kind of Indie film: explores complex emotions without gimmick May 22, 2009
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
This is a moving journey into the lives of two very real siblings. Faced with the unexpected responsibility of dealing with a father who barely deserves their meagre emotional resources, they deal with the problem, with each other, and with their lives.
Like many people in real life, there is no simple resolution, no uplifting revelation, no emergence: they just move on to the next struggle, with some hope. It is that that makes this a first rate film, that it can be believed and experienced - and it certainly reflects what most of us know at one time or another.
Hoffman and Linney are absolutely wonderful. Their relationship is difficult and you can feel the tension that continues, even though the details are only alluded to rather than spelled out. You simply feel for them, you don't judge them or laugh at them. It is realism at its very very best. Individually, their lives are also not easy, but to say they are losers or crippled like some reviewers have here is an over-statement: like many of us, they are wounded and doing the best they can.
Then there is the father, whose behavior and sins are only to be guessed. He is a shell of a man, sometimes lucid, sometimes slipping into the kind of evil you suspect he perpetrated. Yet they still feel some love and caring for him and take their responsibilities seriously. It is a painful spectacle, but very real.
Recommended. This is a splendid journey into areas rarely covered by film, without frills or silly plot twists.
 2.5 stars out of 4 May 3, 2009
One-Line Film Reviews (Ann Arbor)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
The Bottom Line:
Meandering, slow, and not the comedy that it was marketed as, The Savages represents little more than a boring 100 minutes in front of a TV screen and should be avoided at all costs.
An Unexpected Surprise of a Movie! April 18, 2009
Sylviastel
Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Philip Bosco plays the Savages about an estranged father played beautifully by Bosco who should have earned a Supporting Actor nomination for his performance in this role. Linney, Hoffman, and Bosco have all been accomplished thespians on stage, film, and television. In this film, Bosco is unrecognizable as the elderly father who has been emotionally absent from children's lives. Linney and HOffman are perfect as his adult children who are both somewhat alone in their lives. Hoffman's role as John Savage is a literature professor who knows more about Bertolt Brecht than about his father. Linnney plays his sister who is a doomed love affair with a colleague and aspires to be a playwright rather than a working temp in New York City. When their father's longtime girlfriend suddenly dies, the Savages come together in Arizona where they must accompany their father back to Buffalo, New York near where John lives and works as a professor. His sister accompanies their dementia stricken father aboard the flight. In this one scene and clip, I think of Linney as one of our finest actresses today. The story picks up where the family tries to become a family despite their estrangements from each other over the years. All three of them should have easily earned Oscar nominations for their performances especially Bosco as their father. The brother and sister regularly visit their father in a nursing home which he thinks of as a hotel. Along his illness, I believe both his adult children learn something along the way about themselves and life in general. I don't know much about the nursing home experience to make any comments about it. I liked seeing Margo Martindale (the Riches) and Nancy Lenehan in supporting roles.
flawless performances in a timeless motion picture April 16, 2009
Matthew G. Sherwin (last seen screaming at Amazon customer service)
The Savages tells the story of the emotional strife siblings face when their long absent father begins to suffer so much from dementia that he can no longer care for himself. This plot will resonate with just about anyone who has taken care of an elderly relative; and of course professional caregivers may well be able identify with the adult children in this movie, too. The cinematography is very well done and the choreography lacks nothing; but the film progresses at a rate that is much too slow and they could have edited about ten to fifteen minutes out of the picture to make it tighter. On the other hand, however, the acting is consistently wonderful and very convincing.
When the action starts, we are quickly introduced to elderly Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco) who is suffering from the beginning stages of dementia. Lenny lives with his girlfriend of twenty years in Sun City, Arizona; and he doesn't have any contact with his two adult children. It's also explained to us that Lenny wasn't exactly a nurturing father, either. Eduardo (David Zayas), the home health care attendant for Lenny's girlfriend, finds Lenny playing with something that should have been flushed down the toilet. After that, it's only a short time before Lenny's adult children Wendy Savage (Laura Linney) and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman) are called in--and they're called in all the faster when Lenny's girlfriend dies and her relatives insist that Lenny move out.
Jon and Wendy fight over where to put their father; but he is soon moved to a nursing home in Buffalo near where Jon works as a professor. Wendy thinks a nursing home is horrible but Jon reminds her they can't afford assisted living and realistically there aren't many other choices for their father. It's remarkable just how much these two adult children care for a father after nearly twenty years of silence, not even knowing where he was living, and taking abuse from him daily when they were both young children and very vulnerable.
It's also interesting to see the emotional pain Jon and Wendy almost silently endure when having to deal with each other and their elderly father. The scars are not healed; and the acting is quite convincing. You can really feel the pent up emotions from the dysfunctional family dynamics that were never resolved. This adds a lot to the movie.
Meanwhile, Wendy struggles along with her married boyfriend Larry (Peter Friedman). Jon breaks up with his girlfriend Kasia (Cara Seymour) after her visa expires and she must return to her native Poland because neither she nor Jon are ready for marriage.
What happens from here? The plot can go anywhere. Will Lenny and his children ever even begin to resolve their differences from the past? Will Jon or Wendy find love? What about Wendy's grant so that she can put on a semi-autobiographical play? Will she get the grant money? Watch and find out!
The DVD comes with some interesting extras; I especially liked the "extended scenes" and there's another very good feature entitled "About The Savages."
The Savages deals with family relationships on several different levels simultaneously and for this reason The Savages is a very good film. True, it moves a bit too slowly and they could have cut a few minutes here and there; but the overall effect is still quite satisfying. I highly recommend this movie for people studying family dynamics and people who are dealing with the issues of caring for an elderly parent. You won't be disappointed!
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