The Phoenix Network:
 
 
About  |  Advertise
 
Features  |  Reviews
-->

The Savages

Fear and self-laceration
By PETER KEOUGH  |  December 18, 2007
3.0 3.0 Stars

VIDEO: Watch the trailer for The Savages.

As soon as Laura Linney hits the screen, you know you’re in for bad luck and self-loathing, especially when her appearance is preceded by a dementia-afflicted father (Philip Bosco) rubbing feces on a bathroom wall. Wendy Savage, aspiring Manhattan playwright and desperate neurotic, can’t cope with this latest bad news from Sun City, so she calls up her seemingly more successful brother, Buffalo theater professor Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman). Jon’s calm and rational ineffectuality badly complements Wendy’s high-strung fecklessness, and nothing can help the old man, whom they both hate anyway. I’m glad to see the return of director Tamara Jenkins, idle since her wonderful Slums of Beverly Hills (1998). This outing too seems to be semi-autobiographical — there are some details that are just too excruciating and hilarious to be made up. But despite the note-perfect sibling pas de deux from Linney and Hoffman, The Savages sometimes feels like self-laceration. 113 minutes | Boston Common + Fenway + Kendall Square + Circle/Chestnut Hill + suburbs
Related:
  Topics: Reviews , Laura Linney , Tamara Jenkins , Philip Seymour Hoffman ,  More more >
  • Share:
  • RSS feed Rss
  • Email this article to a friend Email
  • Print this article Print
Comments

Today's Event Picks
ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
Share this entry with Delicious

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

MOST POPULAR
RSS Feed of for the most popular articles
 Most Viewed   Most Emailed 



Friday, January 09, 2009  |  Sign In  |  Register
 
thePhoenix.com:
Phoenix Media/Communications Group:
TODAY'S FEATURED ADVERTISERS
Copyright © 2009 The Phoenix Media/Communications Group