It's almost impossible to describe "The Savages" in a way that makes it sound as richly engaging and enjoyable as it is. The story sounds bleak: Two unhappy siblings--Wendy (Laura Linney, "You Can Count on Me") and Jon Savage (Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Capote")--are forced to grapple with their dying father (Philip Bosco, "Damages") as he slips into dementia. But this spare outline doesn't capture the wealth of human detail that the script and performances contain. Linney and Hoffman vividly portray the sort of cluttered, precarious relationship that brothers and sisters can have, thick with past grievances but also unspoken affections and connections that can't even be articulated. As Wendy and Jon struggle to make some kind of peace with their difficult father, watching these wonderfully understated yet compelling actors is a pleasure unto itself. But the script and direction deserve these actors; filmmaker Tamara Jenkins ("Slums of Beverly Hills") finds honest emotion and sly, sideways humor in the starkness of mortality. She doesn't force any easy epiphanies on her story, but lets the characters find solace through their own clumsy efforts. Anyone who appreciates the messiness of humanity--the territory that Hollywood movies seem to have surrendered to smart indie films like "The Squid and the Whale", "Little Children", or "The Good Girl"--will find "The Savages" a smart, genuine, and empathic portrait of life. --"Bret Fetzer"


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Stills from "The Savages"