The Savages

I knew I would be impressed by The Savages (2007) I rented the dvd while Chris was in Canada, but didn't watch it as it was showing at Theatre Clwyd tonight,and I thought I would concentrate on it better in the formal setting of the cinema. I was glad I waited.
The story I think will resonate with many people approaching middle age, as it centres upon the ordinary and slightly damaged siblings of a remote and fairly unlikable father who is suffering from the early stages of dementia.Brother and sister (a shabby withdrawn unsuccessful academic- Philip Seymour Hoffman and neurotic fantasist- Laura Linney) are cornered into organising their father's institutional care ,which in turn forces them out of their defensive introspection , to take somewhat better control of their own chaotic and lonely lives.
Hoffman and Linney literally break your heart with the realism of their roles.They play the whole thing patiently and without sentimentality. The characters are flawed, and deeply so, but gently engage the audiences' sympathy time and time again, you genuinely believe the two have forged this erratic,lifelong bond and undisclosed history only siblings of dysfunctional parents can have.
Of course the subject matter echoed some of my own experiences. Some of the latter scenes where the siblings face the forced cheerfulness of nursing home life are dreadfully painful to watch, but it is the reality of the relationships between brother and sister that really linger in the mind.
A wonderfully truthful film