The Savages

NEW YORK (CNS) - "The Savages" (Fox Searchlight) is a strongly acted, perceptive study of middle-aged brother and sister Jon and Wendy Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney), called upon to care for their emotionally and geographically distant father, Lenny (Philip Bosco), who has had a stroke at his Arizona home and is being kicked out by the owner, the daughter of his late live-in companion.

Wendy is an aspiring playwright living in New York, desperately hoping for a fellowship to validate her work, and Jon is a college professor in Buffalo trying to finish his thesis on playwright Bertolt Brecht. Theatrical references are rife; one example is Jon's tart remark upon hearing they must travel out West: "We are not in a Sam Shepard play!"

Wendy's in a dead-end relationship with Larry (Peter Friedman), a married man who comes over periodically for sexual interludes. But the relationship is presented as sordid, and you sense Wendy wants to put an end to it. Her chronic pill-popping is another aspect of her unhappy situation. Jon, for his part, has broken up with his Polish girlfriend, Kasia (Cara Seymour), who's heading back to her own country.

Writer-director Tamara Jenkins accurately etches all the minutiae of dealing with an ailing parent -- incontinence, dementia, health care proxies, living wills and, ultimately, death -- as anyone who's gone through the process will recognize with empathetic sadness. There's an interesting episode where Lenny chooses the early talkie, "The Jazz Singer," for the patients' movie night at the home, and star Al Jolson's blackface routine causes embarrassment among the African-American residents.

The situation is obviously somber, but Jenkins and her terrific leads leaven it with humor. There are fine supporting performances from Debra Monk, Peter Frechette, Kristine Nielsen and Margo Martindale.

The film ultimately emphasizes the familial bond between the siblings, and the care they give their father, despite his shortcomings when they were growing up. The conclusion is poignantly life-affirming.

The film contains conversational rough language and profanity, adulterous and nonmarital relationships, scatological details, sexual encounters without nudity, drug use and much domestic discord. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is R -- restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

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Copyright (c) 2007 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops