During Thanksgiving week you may not be in the mood for a quiet film about complicated, wrenching family issues, but can we sweeten the deal with some of the most impressive acting we've seen in a while?
We tend to have a bucket of praise at the ready for any and all work by Laura Linney, but for her turn in The Savages, we may need to replenish. Linney plays the overbearing, hair-trigger sister to a hapless Philip Seymour Hoffman as the siblings try to bury their longtime mutual animosity to face the grim task of dealing with their dementia-addled father, played by the excellent Philip Bosco. The story, written and directed by Tamara Jenkins (Slums of Beverly Hills) is by turns funny, intense and altogether wringing. You may need an extra-stiff eggnog after this one.
written on Wednesday Nov 21, 2007
family feud.
