The Savages
R
113 minutes
Laura Linney
Phillip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Bosco
Wendy and John Savage are siblings (Laura Linney and Phillip Seymour Hoffman), they live in New York and Buffalo, respectively. Lenny Savage (Philip Basco), their long estranged father, lives in Sun City, Arizona. Lenny's girlfriend dies and her family kicks him out of her house, primarily for his bizarre behavior. Wendy and John are left taking care of Lenny, eventually they find out he is dying of Parkinson's. They decide to place him an assisted living facility in Buffalo.
Wendy and John are having to live their lives outside of all of this. Wendy is an aspiring playwright with a regular day job. She is the paramour of a married man named Larry. Some drama occurs between her and Larry, which really did not add or take way anything from the film. John is a theater professor, in the middle of writing a book dealing with Bertolt Brecht. He has a girlfriend from Poland, that is until her visa expires. John's problems seem to stem from intellectualizing and suppressing his emotions. Character development is wonderful, you can actually see the metamorphosis of Wendy and John into well-rounded fully-functional adults.
The literary references are a tad esoteric, which some may interpret as pedantic or elitist. The references are completely relevant to the film though, and are not used to obfuscate a lack of content (Matt Damon, Goodwill Hunting). The writer/director of the film (Tamara Jenkins) made a charming, witty and thoroughly engaging film. It's not a snooty avant-garde film, but still there is no denying that it won't appeal to everyone.
Final Verdict: 92 out of a possible 100.
Sidenote: I don't really want to review Michael Clayton. All I can say is its barely good enough for me to recommend.