This is going to be a slightly different approach to reviewing than I’ve taken in the last couple months—not that I have any evidence that anyone reads these often enough to notice my approaches, but nonetheless.
There have been some less-than-stellar flicks that I’ve seen (see 10,000 B.C.) but at least those were fun to rant about. This week, however, the only two mainstream movies that came out were Street Kings, some movie with Keanu Reeves, and Prom Night, no explanation needed.
I made the executive decision that neither I nor anyone likely to read this article would benefit from me spending a thousand words explaining how mediocre either of those movies would inevitably turn out to be.
So, on with the show I suppose.
What I’m doing instead is reviewing a movie that was set to release on DVD Tuesday.
The movie The Savages got a limited United States release back in November.
This movie was written and directed by the virtually unheard of Tamara Jenkins who, as far as I’m concerned, has earned herself respect by penning an extremely heartfelt and emotionally perceptive story.
The Savages revolves around the struggle that a brother and sister have to go through when their ailing father gets diagnosed with dementia.
With differing views on what to do with him, Wendy Savage, played magnificently by Laura Linney (The Truman Show) wants what she thinks is the best for her father by putting him in an assisted living center or an upper-class retirement home.
On the other hand, her brother, Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman) believes that his father’s failing condition and inability to process things mentally is reason enough to stick him in an average nursing home.
The conflict between the two isn’t only about what kind of treatment their father should receive but also about how different people deal with the notion of death.
Throughout the first hour of the movie I enjoyed the story, as well as the acting but felt like I was missing the message that they were trying to convey.
This changed sharply, however, in one of my favorite scenes in recent memory when Jon offers not only Wendy, but the audience as well, a unique perspective on the ways people try and avoid death.
Aside from the poignant messages strewn through the film about mortality, another thing that stood out about this movie to me was the number of “aw” moments.
If you don’t know what I mean, it’s ok, because I’m not totally positive either. By “aw,” I don’t mean it in the she-just-kissed-him-for-the-first-time way; I mean it in the that’s-so-awful-I-don’t-know-how-I-would-react way.
Though that may sound like something you don’t want to see, all of these moments worked very effectively in portraying this sort of hopeless existence to which the actual message of the film could contrast.
This is probably in the top 10 best movies I’ve seen this year and I highly recommend either picking it up on DVD or giving it a rent. I give The Savages an A- because of its gritty, engaging realism and subtle but essentially hopeful meaning.

Questions or comments?
Contact Joe at
JJUnderb9309@winona.edu