Review: The Savages

Two 40ish siblings (Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman), intellectuals who are not especially close. Hoffman is far more successful than the neurotic Linney (who lives alone with a plant and a cat), a temp worker who is struggling to finish an semi-autobiographical play about a deserter father, and is having an affair with a (nice but dull) married man. Hoffman is a Literature professor who is working on a book about Brecht, though like Linney he is unmarried. They are faced with some bad news and tough decisions, though, when they learn the long-time girlfriend of their dementia-suffering (and frankly none too likeable) father Philip Bosco (excellent, under the rather limiting circumstances) has died, and the irascible and unmanageable old coot is wearing thin on his current carers (including “Dexter” co-star David Zayas). Sadly, he may need to be placed in permanent, institutionalised care to better cater for his needs and erratic behaviour. Linney (neurotic, suffering low self-esteem, and always second best to her brother, career-wise), initially aghast at changing her current lifestyle, even moves in with Hoffman (who self-importantly refuses to make much accommodation) to be closer to Bosco, causing friction between the two siblings. The dysfunctional duo must try to put their petty squabbles aside, not to mention their past issues with dad (which may have had some influence on their current lives and neuroses), in order to provide the best they can for his last days on Earth. Even though this is a man who had previously not provided the same care and attention to them as kids as they do to him (something Hoffman seems more aware of than Linney when she questions his readiness to just dump dad in a nursing home).

Critically praised 2007 black comedy/drama from infrequent writer-director Tamara Jenkins (1998’s indie sleeper “The Slums of Beverly Hills” was her first and only previous feature film!) will strike a chord in anyone who has been in this unfortunate, but unfortunately recognisable situation. What makes it funny, at least to me, is the snooty, self-important characters played by Linney (well-cast) and Hoffman. They’re arguments, frequently laced with highfalutin literature quotes that no one outside of them would get, are hilariously pretentious. What makes the film really good is that it’s well-written. Blackly funny and horrible as they occasionally are, you do feel for these people, thanks to Jenkins’ script largely. It’s also impeccably acted by the three leads in particular. Hoffman was a master at making seemingly unlikeable characters somehow pitiable at the very least, whilst Bosco never plays his role for sympathy in the slightest. Sometimes painful, but sometimes even those scenes are funny because one recognises them as true (Bosco writing on the bathroom wall in his own faecal matter, for instance, got a laugh out of me).

As selfish as the lead characters can be at times, one has to remark that there’s a little of me and people I know, in these characters too. Anyone who has seen (and loves, as I do) the classic Aussie sitcom “Mother and Son”, about offspring dealing with parental dementia, might have an (superficial) idea of what to expect here in terms of character behaviour and morbid humour, albeit it’s not nearly as joke-oriented as that brilliant show. This film will not leave you in a cheery mood per se, but it cannot be denied that there is humour here, derived from uncomfortable yet truthful situations. It’s pretty good, and a lot less schmaltzy than these stories tend to be (the film isn’t just laughs and is quite affecting at times), which often don’t reflect the real situation very accurately. The final scenes in particular are moving and very true to life for anyone who has been through an unfortunate, but somewhat expected death of a loved one, and especially those final visits.

Rating: B-