"The Savages" depicts a little slice of life

My freelance review:

Real life, without glamour, plays out in The Savages, a new film starring Academy Award nominee Laura Linney and Academy Award winner Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Linney and Hoffman are middle-aged, bickering siblings brought together when their estranged, elderly father exhibits advanced dementia and can no longer care for himself. Linney's character, a struggling writer in New York City, relocates to Buffalo, where Hoffman's character teaches college. They relocate their father to there from across the country.

The story delves into the sibling's somewhat empty lives and their attempts to care for a man they barely know. The film doesn't take any cheap shots. Director and screenwriter Tamara Jenkins keeps the tone and focus of the film consistent. Linney and Hoffman deliver strong performances and stay true to their characters throughout.

This film depicts a little slice-of-life. It's not overly-dramatic. It offers little bits of humor here and there. It doesn't pretend to say what life is all about or anything like that.

Like real life, it just is what it is.

I highly recommend The Savages.