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Friday, March 29
The Indiana Daily Student

Savage love

Laura Linney wants the balloon, but Philip Seymour Hoffman wants all the joy to himself.

With her second film since the critically acclaimed "Slums of Beverly Hills," writer-director Tamara Jenkins is back to the big screen with "The Savages," her tale of two faltering siblings given the responsibility of caring for their elderly, abusive father. \nJon and Wendy Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney) are brother and sister living in separate parts of New York state. Jon is an author of books on theatrical drama; Wendy is a self-proclaimed aspiring playwright. They are intelligent, articulate and knowledgeable about drama, but these attributes do them no good when they get a call from their father's caretaker telling them that their father Lenny Savage (Philip Bosco) has been writing on the walls with his own feces. \nAfter some reluctance, the pair decides to move their father to a "rehabilitation center" for elderly people in Buffalo, N.Y., where they must take care of a parent who never took care of them. These unhappy relationships during their childhood affect the ones they are in now: Jon refuses to marry a Polish woman whose visa has expired, even though he cares for her, and Wendy is having a joyless affair with a somewhat older married man. \nDirector Tamara Jenkins chooses not to sentimentalize these situations. Quite the opposite, this movie could have easily fallen into the now common "indie" movie genre that has become so popular recently, a genre that seems most concerned with obscure soundtracks and "finding oneself." It's hard to determine what Jenkins' characters "find" by the end of the film; there are no easy revelations or epiphanies. \nCharacters speak in realistic sentences, not speeches. They ask questions but don't make confessions. Silence between characters is used to tell us more about them, not less. What Jenkins mainly accomplishes through these devices is realism, not some hyperactive fantasy.\nThe result is a highly enjoyable movie that asks questions about mortality and family that remain unanswered. Regardless of whether you have ever cared for elderly relatives or not, this movie will make you reflect on past days, hope for better ones and help give you the wisdom to notice the difference between the two.

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