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JENKINS RETURNS WITH THE SAVAGES
With one full day in the books the talk around Main St. is about Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages. On an eight year hiatus from making features (her last being Slums of Beverly Hills), Jenkins returns with The Savages screening in the Premieres section. Funny yet touching, the story follows two siblings who are forced to interrupt their self-absorbed lives to take care of their ailing father.
Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman (could you think of a better tandem?) play the siblings who finally have to give a damn about their father (stage vet Philip Bosco) after years of non-communication when he’s diagnosed with Dementia. In the hands of trained actors like Linney and Hoffman, Jenkins’ sharp, satirical style is executed perfectly as the film mixes its coming-of-middle-age story with comedic moments that the two actors play off as if they’ve been working together for years. The film is not unlike Jenkins’ husband Jim Taylor and his partner Alexander Payne’s style. They are executive producers on the film.
Fox Searchlight is distributing the film later this year.
