The Savages (Tamara Jenkins, 2007)

The Savages (Tamara Jenkins, 2007)
Rating: 7.1

The production design is even more depressing than the narrative that covers midlife crisis, anxiety, aging, and death, but incredible performances from Philip Bosco, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Laura Linney overshadow this. I haven't had the pleasure of seeing Hoffman in a film since the abysmal MI3 and before that Capote, so it was quite refreshing to be reminded of the magnificence he brings to the table. John Savage (Hoffman) and his younger sister, Wendy Savage (Linney) are suddenly forced to care for their ailing father (Bosco), and rekindle their relationship with him, while they battle their own private problems as well. The film has several genuinely funny, and even more sad scenes, but unfortunately suffers from being too self-aware and too quick to overtly point out it's own subtleties, and subtextual meanings. After hitting on some great points about the apathetic mourning rituals of humanity and the retirement homes feed upon the guilt of loved ones and target this weakness as a selling point after Wendy becomes fixated on upgrading her father's nursing home, Hoffman goes into a monologue about just that, reiterating what has already been suggested. The same sort of thing happens again later after we are beaten over the head with Wendy's pathetic and clearly underachieving love life as she dates an older, married man with very little hair and even less real feeling other than lust towards her. In an argument between the two of them, Wendy points all of this out and even goes as far as revealing the symbolism of her withering ficus tree that Larry forgot to take care of while she was away. The film is however not without a few great scenes. After a doctor recommends their father watch old films to trigger memories, Hoffman shows The Jazz Singer to an audience at the nursing home, only to be met with scowls from the African Americans in attendance. My favorite scene in the film is a heated argument between the two siblings as the father sits in the car and listens to them talk about him as if he doesn't even exist. The look on his face says so much with so little, and then in a moment of shear brilliance he turns off his hearing aid. With the omission of the scenes I've mentioned, The Savages would have had the potential to be a pretty good film, but instead it is just another decent, yet ultimately forgettable indie dramedy.