On DVD: THE SAVAGES (Tamara Jenkins, 2007)

Well, well, well, dear readers, it's been a while since I wrote here, but that's because I've been a little busy making some short videos. But fear not, I return with a run-down of Tamara Jenkins's little film The Savages.

We've all seen this movie before. It's one of those dysfunctional family films, with walking index card description characters, and an overabundance of quirk thrown in for cheap laughs. But that's what it appears on the surface. Oh, The Savages is much, much more than that.

With Juno, I firmly believe that it was Jason Reitman and his actors that saved that flick from the god-awful script that it had. Diablo Cody is, like, way overrated and totally for shiz, like, out of whack up the sprout, homeskillet. Honestly, I really don't know/give a shit what her characters are saying half the time.

Now, before I Hulk out with gamma rage on Diablo Cody, I'll really get to The Savages. The script in itself is interesting, and what benefits it is the complex characters it presents. These would be a challenge to the actors portraying them, making sure that in real life these are unlikable people but making them ultimately likable. Get me? Well, Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Philip Bosco (playing sister, brother, and father Savage, respectively) pull it off and then some. Linney's Wendy Savage could have been so hokey and annoying, but since Linney is the great actress that she is, she can turn it into a great, Academy Award nominated character.

That's where the real strength in The Savages lies. The actors have full faith in this above-average quirk-script and the performances are phenomenal all around. There are those quirk moments, of course, but they are very subversive quirk moments, so if you're very anti-quirk I'm giving the nonexistent Wes Greene Seal Of Approval for all you quirk-haters out there. If you're lonely out there on this St. Patrick's Day, a little game you could play is to drink every time I say quirk in this article.

If I had one think to complain about the flick it would be the pacing. It seems like it's going fast, but it really isn't. I really don't know how to put it, but it really gets slow at some parts. 'Nuff said.

BOTTOM LINE: The Savages may look like another two-dimensional dysfunctional family flick, but the above-average script and the full commitment and greatness of its actors benefits it greatly, making it worth your time.
Buy The Savages on DVD.