It's Oscar time, so it's another trip to the moviehouse for a nominated film. Laura Linney is up for Best Actress in The Savages, a film about two siblings and their unplanned need to care for their father who had abandoned them as children. Gordon favorite Philip Seymour Hoffman portrays yet another stellar role, which made this viewing decision an easy one to make. As always, the trailer:
John and Wendy Savage live struggling artistic lives in New York: Wendy in NYC as a floundering playwright, John in Buffalo as a college professor under the gun in writing a book on Bertolt Brecht. Their estranged father, living in Sun City, AZ is struck with dementia and needs to be placed under permanent medical care. What to do with a man who ignored you your entire life while coming together with a sibling with whom you haven't shared a roof with in years?
John and Wendy (appropriately "forever young" Peter Pan names) experience their impromptu need to in fact grow up a little bit. A drama with heavy material that manages to lighten up the air quite a bit with sharp comedic dialogue. We enjoyed this greatly. We found ourselves laughing during moments where the story was indeed grim, because Hoffman and Linney thrived in the humor. Best Actress nod for Linney? She was indeed strong, but not a "wow" in that department.
Gordon Movie Scale? Full Price Minus.
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