If you picked up your tickets to see the preview of “The Savages,” the first IBJ Night at the Movies, please share your thoughts
on the film after Monday night's screening.
And look to “Lou Harry’s A&E” for information on future screenings.
And look to “Lou Harry’s A&E” for information on future screenings.
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This film provides an unvarnished glimpse at the ugliness of aging and the sorrow in store for children facing the prospect of putting one or both parents into a nursing home.
The strongest thing for me about the film was how much was unsaid. This is a plot that could have so easily turned into a Lifetime movie, with each character having one clear motivation for his or her behavior. It's gutsy these days for a film's characters to be this muddy...and I mean that in a good way. They felt real, with a wide mix of pros and cons. I also appreciate that the nursing home and its workers weren't presented as evil.
The only plot point I didn't buy was Wendy believing she could fake her Gugenheim fellowship. I think she would know her brother well enough to know he would find out the truth very quickly. Besides that, I bought it all.
I think this film made all those end of the year top 10 lists for good reason. Even parts that in real life would probably bring me to tears (and a few of the film's more serious moments did) were mostly done in a way that was still clever enough to enjoy without crying through the whole thing. The characters were flawed, but in a relatable way. They might have been annoying at times, but I could also understand where they were coming from in terms of dealing with their situation and hoped that things would somehow work out for them in the end (even if they lied and were self-absorbed, which may also have something to do with their relationship with their father they must now take care of, but the movie doesn't hit audiences over the head with that idea, other than a few hints here and there).
And laughing at this movie despite the heavy subject matter is like looking back on something horrible after enough time has passed so the truly weird/inappropriate parts of what happened are finally OK to laugh at. Or maybe if I didn't laugh, I would have been sucked into the sad parts to the point of not enjoying the not-so-sad parts. If you miss this at the theater, at least try to check it out on DVD.