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The Savages

posted by Landon Cassman at 10:34 pm.

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Due to the fact that I’m trying to save as much money as possible this summer, I realized that it’d be hard to go to as many indie movies as possible in theaters ($9.00 for a ticket? What’s that?). But there’s always a never ending amount of great independent films that are at my disposal at the nearest video store, and they’re really cheap too!

One of the movies I came upon was called The Savages. I didn’t know anything about it except that Phillip Seymour Hoffman was in it, which is a plus if you’ve ever seen him in Magnolia or Almost Famous. Going into an independent movie without knowing anything is probably the best thing you can do because it adds to the excitement of what you’re about to see. So, with no expectancies, here’s what I found.

The Savages follows the story of the middle-aged Savage siblings, Jon and Wendy, and their dementia-ridden father Lenny who is left in their possession after his girlfriend passes away. After almost twenty years of not seeing him, the Savage children only remember their father as being an abusive and unloving, and now they have to deal with the man who made them the emotionally scarred individuals they are today.

The film shows the struggle of having to take care of one’s parents as they get older and older, especially if the parents were never loving to begin with. The theme of doing something for others just for the good of doing it is poignant and depressing at the same time. We, as children, have a duty to take care of those that raised us, even if they did a terrible job. The Savages poses a very real look at what everyone will someday have to go through when they and their parents reach old age. If you’re up for the depressing reality of that, filled with a handful of laughs, then take a peek into your future with this film.

Landon Cassman: Through boredom and pure enjoyment I find myself always involved in either film or music related endeavors. This is one of them.