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September 03, 2007
Savage Love
I finally got to see The Savages here at Telluride. The film went to Sundance under the gentle hand of Fox Searchlight and as I wrote back then, it was pretty much the most consistently praised film at the festival… but it didn’t get much press since it wasn’t for sale or in play in any way.
We’re still four months away from the release of this film – God and Steve Gilula know why – and it is starting the festival circuit again, landing in Toronto in just a few days. It played Telluride as a “sneak preview” TBA starting on Saturday and proceeded to fill four more TBA slots before tonight’s festival close.
The Savages is not the single most popular film here in Telluride. That honor seems to be split between Into The Wild and I’m Not There. But The Savages is a close third and of the trio, it may end up being the most commercial. (Into The Wild could end up being a true phenom and I suspect it will also be the most popular film shown in Toronto.)
In any case…
Tamara Jenkins film (he writes and directs) is a big step forward from her previous efforts. Slums of Beverly Hills is now nine years ago, a film with a big cult following that never quite translated into box office success. But this one… it is also a small, intimate look at a family… but it is, within its own boundaries, nearly perfect.
It doesn’t help that Jenkins has basically made a three character film and that her three characters are brought to life by Laura Linney in one of her best ever performances, Phillip Bosco who surpasses any of the old age performances we have seen of late, and Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who seems to have been freed of the shackles of any pretense whatsoever by Capote and is now, really for the first time, undeniably in the place to be the Gene Hackman of his generation. This is a truly spectacular performance in all of its subtleties and Hoffman’s inability to miss a dialogue target by even a millimeter.
The story is of a brother and a sister, who talk but not too often, called to engage with their elderly father after years of near-complete disconnection. How will they connect in this high-pressure situation? Who are they to each other in the very early days of middle age? And are they grown up… can they grow up… what is being a grown up? (It's no mistake that these characters are Wendy and John Savage, not Darling, still waiting to grow up... though Peter Pan makes no appearance.)
Elderly and problem parents and the difficulties of breaking away from them has been a major theme of Telluride this year and of the group, I think The Savages is the best. It seems to me that the group of filmmakers that wanted to talk about relationships a decade ago and about breaking up five years ago are entering the dying parent stage and that is the cause of all this filmic discussion.
I don’t really want to write too much about the film. It is, in its way, a road trip movie and you should take the journey as free from the details as you can be. There are small and explosive time bombs all through this film, as is Ms Jenkins style, and knowing that even the smallest one is coming can not help but to twist your sense of anticipation.
For me, this film is very much on the same track as Noah Baumbach’s Margot At The Wedding, but succeeds much more specifically because it locks down onto the emotion of the characters in a way that feels complete… save a similar lack of a mother in both films. Ironically, Jenkins and Baumbach are friends and are probably uncomfortable with competing. But that is the nature of the beast. And there is some chance that Baumbach, after taking a breath, with mature into a kind of relaxed emotionality in addition to his clear comic talents to make him the definition of his potential that so many see.
Leave it to say that I think this is probably Fox Searchlight’s Oscar candidate with the most potential of becoming a small phenom. It is very funny, but very dark… and it is a subject of great interest to people over 40… aka 99% of The Academy. Some may be turned off by the fact that all of these characters are screw ups on some level. But who isn’t? And this may make this one of the most universally felt of the many small films that will be duking it out for nominations in the next five months. Hoffman should be a can’t miss, as is the screenplay… Linney should follow… and if Searchlight is righteous, they should push hard for Bosco as well.
Posted by poland at September 3, 2007 07:44 PM
Comments
"Tamara Jenkins film (he writes and directs)"
Assuming that's a typo... Tamara is a "she."
I can't remember much about this movie since catching the premiere at Sundance over seven months ago, but I think I called it being positioned for awards even back then:
"Either way, the film is definitely strong enough for Fox Searchlight to position it for awards attention next year for the entire cast and Jenkins' script, though it will be interesting to see whether the movie stands up without the always-rapturous Sundance audience making every joke seem even funnier."
http://www.comingsoon.net/blog/2007/01/premiere_the_savages.php#more
Kind of annoying that most people will only see it nearly a year after I first wrote about it, but I have a feeling I'll have to see it again since it sounded like the print was barely dry when it showed at Sundance and maybe there've been changes.
Posted by: EDouglas ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.mcnblogs.com/thehotblog/nav-commenters.gif)
at September 3, 2007 09:11 PM
Totally agree with you on "Savages," but "I'm Not There" as one of the most popular films of the festival? No way. The reaction has been polarized at best -- I've heard a whole lot of negative responses, and this from a festival crowd with a tendency to gush uncontrollably.
Posted by: eugenen at September 3, 2007 09:30 PM
Dave, bless your lil' cotton socks I love ya I do, but "I don’t really want to write too much about the film" gave me a nice good chuckle.
I though the Dec 29-31 qualifying release date had done it's flash dash and was seen as a big fat negative against a film?
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at September 4, 2007 03:47 AM
Damn. I thought Heat had finally broken down to share with us those letters he receives from guys who like humping rough surfaces and fear doing irreparable damage to their penis as well as letter from men cheating in Second Life, women wondering why they are expected to just go all the way to be GOOD, GIVING, AND GAME, and men upset their bi-sexual wives have left them to become full-blown lesbian. Pegging would have to be in there somewhere, but I am just saying. I thought Heat had taken a turn.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at September 4, 2007 06:27 AM
I truly wish I knew what the hell you are talking about, IO.
Posted by: David Poland at September 4, 2007 06:46 AM
eugn - I would agree that the festival reaction has been colored by a lot of "it's too long" conversation. And I wouldn't mind seeing 15 minutes cut, especially in the Gere section.
However, I still would argue that right now, it's the best American film I have seen this year. I havem however, had the advantage of seeing it twice. And we have had this argument in here before many times... should a film need to be seen multiple times to "get it?" And my answer is, as always, "Dear God, YES!," so long as the reason is that the film is challenging and not simply confusing for the sake of it.
People sit in front of paintings for hours in museums. Why not give a similar consideration to what is, by its very nature, a more complex for of art (that includes the fine arts)? I love entertainment, but what is more powerful than a film that grows with each viewing?
Posted by: David Poland at September 4, 2007 07:02 AM
"...should a film need to be seen multiple times to 'get it?' And my answer is, as always, 'Dear God, YES!,' so long as the reason is that the film is challenging and not simply confusing for the sake of it."
I've definitely had to re-listen to certain records I didn't like the first time to "get" them (The Smiths, Modest Mouse, etc.); but with movies, it never really changes much. A good film can rise up to a pretty good film once the experience marinates in my brain for a while, but I can't think of a movie I disliked that ascended out of the negative with repeat sampling. For me, 95% of the time it's love, hate or something in between at first sight and that's that. God knows I've re-tried "Fargo" nearly a dozen times over the years and I'm still not seeing the masterpiece Roger Ebert says is there.
Your analogy to paintings in museums is really good though. Not to be a pill, but I'd argue that the majority of time people spend drinking them in is either in the continued pursuit of the original high the person got from seeing a beautiful piece of ar, or the futile effort to "get" the work in the same way others say they got it.
Posted by: Hallick at September 4, 2007 08:11 AM
Heat; SAVAGE LOVE... ever heard of it? You know the column Dan Savage http://www.avclub.com/content/savagelove . If you are going to use SAVAGE LOVE Heat as a title of of a blog posting. You are opening yourself up for a bit of business with someone who knows the haps.
Posted by: IOIOIOI at September 4, 2007 05:55 PM
Yes, I know the column. Everyone should.
Posted by: David Poland at September 4, 2007 11:37 PM
I'm of the mind that I shouldn't be forced to pay for two, three, four, five, however many movie tickets just so I can go "yes, I really do like it." It's all well and good when you're getting to see the movie multiple times with no expense - I recently got to see the Aussie film Noise again for free and decided to give it a solid A because it moved me differently the second time around - but, otherwise I think it's down right frustrating and rude (yes it is) when people (bloggers/critics/reviewers) talk about how I should pay upwards of $30 to like something that they got to see for the price of tank of petrol. By all means see the movie however many times you like, but don't tell me I need to see it three times in order to appreciate it.
Alternatively, I hate it when these people begrudge the fact that they get to watch these movies multiple times. "Sigh! I'm so exhausted! Sitting through I'm Not There for the fourth time followed by the premier of a new movie from an iconic director. Woe is fuckin' me", and so on.
Posted by: KamikazeCamelV2.0 at September 6, 2007 01:13 AM
Awesome Q&A with Tamara Jenkins in two.one.five magazine. The filmmaker talks about her feature film 'The Savages.'
Posted by: twoonefivemagazine at January 29, 2008 11:31 AM
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