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Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney

How intriguing that the Savage siblings, Wendy (Laura Linney) and Jon (Philip Seymour Hoffman), have both chosen theatre as a profession.  They’ve spent their lives hiding behind other peoples’ dreams as an escape or reinterpretation of their own blighted reality. 

“The Savages”, written and directed by Tamara Jenkins, reveals these characters subtly and naturally without exposition. Their mother abandoned the family when they were very young and their father Lenny (a portrait of helpless rage by Philip Bosco) is at best distant and at worst, well, we never really know, but resentful and unfeeling may be just the tip of the iceberg.           

Jon is a professor of theatre, submersed in his biography of Bertolt Brecht.   Hoffman plays him with the crackling opaqueness of dry ice.  Wendy, the braver one, is an aspiring playwright, who survives through temp jobs and dubious grants.  She’s not above telling Jon she’s gotten the Gugenheim grant he’s pursued for years when, in fact, her grant comes from an award to 9/11 survivors whose work has been affected by that disaster.            “All the temps do it,” she tells Jon feistily when he outs her.  Linney brings out the vulnerability and determination  in Jenkins’ well-written character.          

Jon and Wendy are reunited by the hospitalization of Lenny, left alone since the demise of his long-time girlfriend, and suffering from early Altzheimer’s.  There’s no joy in taking care of Dad.  The siblings’ personalities are most distinctively defined in their choice of nursing homes.  Jon goes for practicality, a drab hulk near him with warm Hispanic caregivers.  Wendy picks a resortish place where she’d like to spend the week-end.Their private lives are similar.  Each has an inaccessible lover.  Wendy chooses a married man whose visits include his giant ailing St. Bernard.  Jon’s love is a Russian who can’t stay in this country without either the green card she can’t get or the marriage license Jon won’t grant.  The fences the Savage siblings have built around their emotions have been in place since childhood.                      If Lenny hasn’t brought up his kids, the very fact of their empty final reunion becomes a catharsis.  Although Jon may take the more conventional next step, Wendy’s denouement is the most satisfying. In the sly final scene she’s jogging past the city skyline followed by the rescued St. Bernard.              Making this movie work for you involves scanning the obvious next step taken by Jon and exploring the alternatives illustrated by Wendy.  Rescuing the dog and making him a permanent part of her life is a big baby step on the road to commitment.  Jenkins astutely quits while she’s ahead and there’s nothing too scary about musing over her options.