Name of film: The Savages
Director: Tamara Jenkins
Lead Actors: Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Philip Bosco
Major Award Nominations for this Film: Laura Linney was nominated for an Oscar as Best Actress in a Leading Role. Tamara Jenkins was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Philip Seymour Hoffman was nominated for a Golden Globe as Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy.
The Story: A middle-aged brother and sister (Hoffman and Linney) are jolted out of their dysfunctional lives when they get word their estranged father has dementia and can no longer live on his own.
Review: The subject matter of this film may seem grim, but strangely enough it has humor, and luckily, there is hope at the end.
The story opens in Sun City, Arizona, where Leonard Savage (Philip Bosco) lives with his "girlfriend" of 20 years. She is now deep in dementia and has a caregiver, but up until this point, Leonard has been fine. Suddenly, after an altercation with the caregiver, he smears his own feces on the bathroom wall and alarm bells go off. When his girlfriend dies shortly thereafter, Leonard is suddenly homeless, due to a legal agreement he signed when he moved in. His two adult children—whom he abandoned when they were kids—are summoned to take care of him.
The children are both struggling. John (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a drama professor who has been unable to finish his book or marry his girlfriend. Wendy (Laura Linney) is a would-be playwright who survives on temp jobs while she waits for her grant to come in. Neither is accustomed to caring for anything more complicated than a cat, but they manage to find Leonard a nursing home and to visit him faithfully. Slowly, over the months, both kids manage to grow up a little.
Hoffman and Linney are two fine character actors who thoroughly inhabit the Savages. Linney has the eyes of a scared little girl looking for someone to take care of her, desperately clinging to anyone who does but flaring up in a temper at the slightest problem. Hoffman shuffles through the movie like a man who expects nothing and is determined not to be bothered by the emptiness of his life. Together, the two are lost souls, each looking to the other for help but not expecting to find it.
Philip Bosco deliberately underplays his role to good effect. Most of the time, Leonard is simply confused and seems a little surprised by everything that happens. But from time to time, he too flares up, complaining loudly when his kids would most like him to shut up.
The film manages to skewer the glitzy world of retirement communities, where the women join tap dancing groups and the men become lawn bowlers. But happily, it does not try to make humor out of an older person with dementia, as so many movies have. Leonard's situation is treated realistically and sympathetically.
Even the largely immigrant group that makes up the nursing home staff receives a little understanding here. Gbenga Akinnagbe in particular comes across as a caring man whose connection with his patients goes beyond getting them to bed at night.
Why you'd want to see this movie:
The Savages is not a movie to see if you're looking for light entertainment or lots of action. It's a quiet movie about a subject that's all too real. But it's well acted, and it leaves you with an uplifting message: It's never too late to grow up.
Rating: 
– Reviewed by Nancy Wick, Seattle, Washington
The Savages is available on DVD » [1]