Film

What's on at the cinema plus reviews of the latest movie and DVD releases

Search cinema listings

Browse cinemas A-Z

Search 20,000 reviews

 

The Savages (2007)

Director: Tamara Jenkins

Time Out rating

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

The strength of ‘The Savages’ lies in its sensitivity to the awkward, contradictory impulses that nurture and fray the relationships between siblings, lovers, parents and children. Strange, given this impressive emotional realism, that its most memorable sequences verge on the surreal: the film opens like ‘Blue Velvet’ on vacation, with a sun-drenched, colour-saturated slow-motion sequence involving outlandish topiary, formation-dancing seniors, multiple golf carts and giant cacti.

This is Sun City, Arizona, the retirement town where Lenny (Philip Bosco) lives with his partner and presents the angry outbursts and dirty protests of incipient dementia. When Lenny’s partner dies, her family turfs him out, forcing responsibility on to his estranged children in New York: would-be playwright Wendy (Laura Linney), who’s having an affair with an older neighbour, and Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman), an academic working on Brecht and in denial about his Polish girlfriend returning home.

Subjects seldom aired in American cinema – ageing, compromise, death – take centre stage in Jenkins’ sharp, witty script, which captures well the short-cuts to affection and irritation that intimacy brings, even if it offers a too-neat arc of growth and redemption and several off-the-peg touches (cue words of wisdom from an African nurse).

The performances, however, are terrific. At one point, Jon sprains his neck, prompting an outlandish bit of DIY physiotherapy involving weights and a door-mounted neck brace. While he’s ensconced in this contraption, Wendy reports winning a grant for which Jon was rejected. As envy, self-pity and pride compete for control of his features, Hoffman shows he can give an acting masterclass even with his head in a sling.

Author: Ben Walters

Time Out London Issue 1953: Jan 23-29


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Top Stories

Ashton Kutcher: a life in film

Ashton Kutcher: a life in film

Ashton Kutcher has made it big without ever being in a decent film. Time Out looks back over his strange career

Speed Racer: special feature

Speed Racer: special feature

Welcome to our special feature on the Wachowski brothers' 'Speed Racer', with exclusive features, shots from the movie and our early review of the film

The Matrix: revisited

The Matrix: revisited

It's been ten years since the original 'Matrix' film wowed cinema audiences. Tom Huddleston re-watches the three films and asks, were they really all that?

Iron Man: special feature

Iron Man: special feature

Welcome to our special focus on Jon Favreau's 'Iron Man', with exclusive features, shots from the movie and our early review of the film

Ten terrible cinematic superheroes

Ten terrible cinematic superheroes

In celebration of the release of Jon Favreau's 'Iron Man', Time Out offers a list of the ten worst cinematic superheros of all time