Dir. Tamara Jenkins, US, 2007, 113 mins
Cast: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Review by Katie Roberts
Old people, in cinema as in life, are traditionally marginalized in glossy youth-obsessed Hollywood, or dismissed as quirky or grumpy ensemble cast members in family dramas. But with an aging population in the West, there is a whole wealth of new and complex family issues to be mined by the industry, and in director and writer Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, we find a sensitive, realistic and humorous account of an unconventional family attempting to deal with the horrors of dementia.
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman star as siblings Wendy and Jon, living miles apart but united by their dysfunctionality. As Wendy carries on a torrid affair with her neighbour and continually fails to launch a playwriting career, her college professor brother holes himself up in Buffalo to work on his obscure new book. But bigger problems come knocking when they discover their estranged father Lenny (Bosco), has lost his home and succumbed to dementia.
Not wanting to interrupt their respective naval-gazing for a father who cared little for their own welfare, Jon finds a rundown nursing home that will care for Lenny during his last months. Overwhelmed by guilt, and grabbing the opportunity to escape her own unfulfilling life, Wendy moves in temporarily with her brother, causing the two to revisit the various annoyances and joys of their sibling relationship.
Linney is outstanding as the neurotic compulsive liar Wendy, somehow sympathetically relating the guilt that comes with dealing with an elderly parent, despite her irritating self-obsession. Her relationship with her brother – admiration and envy barely concealed – is authentic and at times touching, particularly when the pair find themselves in hysterics over Jon’s bizarre neck truss. Seymour Hoffman further increases his indie stock with a low-key portrayal of the academic oddball, never forsaking realism for easy quirkiness.
Bosco is perhaps the most likeable character, despite the fact his shoddy parenting is responsible for his children’s perpetual unhappiness. His almost silent interpretation of his bewildering condition is heartbreaking, and occasionally hilarious. When he tires of Jon and Wendy’s bickering in the car, we all feel his pain as he resignedly reaches up to his ear and turns down his hearing aid.
As far as subject matters go, it’s fair to say that dementia will never lure the masses to the cinema, and occasionally the drab aesthetic threatens to undermine the wit and warmth of the principles. However, Jenkins’ refreshingly unsentimental dialogue and celebration of black humour wins out.
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