The Savages
Dir Tamara Jenkins, featuring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Linney, Philip Bosco, Peter Friedman, Gbenga Akinnagbe (R)
By Ruth Hessey
As the population in affluent western countries simply ages instead of shuffling off, more and more of us will face the chilling prospect of elderly parents who can no longer care for themselves.
In this case Jon (Phillip Seymour Hoffman) and Wendy (the Oscar-nominated Laura Linney) are middle aged siblings who've never scored the big grant, or written the great novel. Their bohemia has devolved into shabby chic squalour, and commitment phobia has left them treading water in relationships going nowhere. But when their father's girlfriend dies, and he is kicked out of the house he shared with her by her family, Jon and Wendy find their insular if unsatisfying lives are turned upside down.
Without the money to give themselves the basic bourgeoisie luxuries, what can they do with their demented father? Jon finds a depressing nursing home, and despite Wendy's horror, installs Dad (Philip Bosco) in it.
This thoroughly mundane yet nightmarish scenario produces its own twisted humour, and the film is unexpectedly funny throughout. Director Tamara Jenkins (who made Beverly Hills Slums almost a decade ago) has the lightness of touch to bring off classic indie entertainment, balancing the despairing with the ludicrous. Of course love triumphs in the end.