+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year
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| The star leads look dead-on at us from a wintry landscape in this carefully drawn and designed poster for Tamara Jenkins' The Savages |
When their old father offends his home care worker and turns out to be beginning to suffer from dementia, sister and brother Savage are forced to see their father and try to create a dignified final period for him.
The Savages is written and directed by great Pennsylvanian filmmaker Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills (1998)).
It is socially critical and poignant, led by a rich script that seems pitch black over a long stretch but which actually contains humanity and warmth, - and the will to broach difficult topics in a meaningful way. The Savages is in fact almost too well-written.
Laura Linney (Frasier (2003-04)) has the abilities that make us want to follow her very imperfect character, and the same goes for Philip Seymour Hoffman (Mission: Impossible III (2006)), - they are both formidable here. Philip Bosco (Wonder Boys (2000)) is additionally very credible and moving as their father.
The Savages is directed with great command and extremely well edited. It is a true gem of a picture.
Related post:
2007 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
Hoffman talks about his work with the character in the film in a video here
Cost: 9 mil. $
Box office: 10.6 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.17 times its cost)
[The Savages premiered 19 January (Sundance Film Festival, Utah) and runs 113 minutes. Shooting took place in New York and Arizona, including Phoenix. It opened #30 to a 151k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #18 and in 201 theaters (different weeks), grossing 6.6 mil. $ (62.3 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 0.9 mil. $ (8.5 %) and Australia with 0.6 mil. $ (5.7 %). The film was nominated for 2 Oscars: Best Actress (Linney), lost to Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, and Original Screenplay, lost to Diablo Cody for Juno. It was also nominated for a Golden Globe, won an AFI award, 2/4 Independent Spirit awards, a National Board of Review award and many other honors. Roger Ebert gave the film a 3.5/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Jenkins returned with Private Life (2018). Linney returned in Breach (2007); Hoffman in Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007). The Savages is certified fresh at 89 % with a 7.46/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of The Savages?
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