The Savages (2007) - Three great actors shine in T. Jenkins' terrific drama

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+ Best Big Flop Movie of the Year + Best Drama of the Year

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?

21 Grams (2003) or, Hardcore Life

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One of the simple, grimy posters for Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu's 21 Grams

Heavy with the weight of tough human fates, 21 Grams revolves around a hoodlum father who runs down another father and his two daughters in a traffic accident and subsequently escapes. Hereafter follows the mother's unraveling, a heart transplantation, the urge for revenge, - and meaning in the midst of tragedy.

21 Grams is written by Guillermo Arriaga (Love Is a Bitch/Amores Perros (2000)) and directed by Mexican master filmmaker Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu (Babel (2006)), whose second feature it it. The plot of the film is told in an advanced concept that jumps in chronology and between characters, (termed by some as 'hyperlink cinema'.) Arriaga masterly coalesces the stories, and the heavy duty drama holds amazing acting performances from Oscar-nominated leads Naomi Watts (The Impossible/Lo Imposible (2012)), Sean Penn (Milk (2008)) and Oscar-nominated Benicio Del Toro (The Usual Suspects (1995)).
The score  by Gustavo Santaolalla (Wild Tales (2014)) is fittingly simple, and the images of burning, intense beauty by master cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto (Lust, Caution (2007)) tell the thought-provoking story of the weight of life in a deeply moving way.

Related posts:
 
Alejandro Gonzáles Iñárritu: The day after the day after ... the Oscars 2016 
The Revenant (2015) - Nature outdoes itself in Iñárritu's showy, solemn macho-spectacle
The day after the day after... The Oscars 2015
Birdman (2014) - Iñárritu's clever, but cold showbusiness dramedy
Biutiful (2010) - Sad globalization stories from Iñárritu Babel (2006) or, Everyone's Connnected  
Love Is a Bitch/Amores Perros (2000) or, People = Bad, Dogs = Good

Watts talks of her work in the film here

Cost: 20 mil. $
Box office: 60.4 mil. $
= Box office success (returned 3.02 times the cost)
[21 Grams premiered 5 September (Venice Film Festival, Italy) and runs 124 minutes. It is the second film in Iñárritu's Death trilogy, preceded by Love Is a Bitch and followed by Babel. The title refers to the investigation of Dr. Duncan MacDougall, who found that the weight of a human's soul is 21 grams. Filming took place in Tennessee and New Mexico from December 2002 - February 2003. The film opened #22 in just 8 theaters with 274k $ and a solid 34k $ theater average in North America, where it peaked #14 and in 411 theaters (different weeks) and grossed 16.2 mil. $ (26.8 % of the total gross). Its 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 6 mil. $ (9.9 %) and Italy with 5.5 mil. $ (9.1 %). 21 Grams received two Oscar-nominations: Best Lead Actress (Watts), lost to Charlize Theron for Monster, and Best Supporting Actor (Toro), lost to Tim Robbins for Mystic River. The film also received 4 BAFTA nominations and a slew of other honors. Iñárritu returned with Babel (2006). Penn returned in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004), Del Toro in Sin City (2005), Watts in We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004). 21 Grams is certified fresh at 80 % with a 7.5 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of 21 Grams and the other two films in the Death trilogy?