The Savages
2007 · Movie · R · 114 min · ★ 6.9 · 87% critics
A brother and sister are pulled back into each other’s lives when they must take responsibility for their estranged, ailing father. As they navigate nursing-home decisions, old resentments, and everyday indignities, they try to balance guilt, practicality, and dark humor while figuring out what family duty really means.
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Details
- Years
- 2007
- Release date
- 2007-11-28
- Language
- English
- Rated
- R
- Runtime
- 114 min
- Critic score
- 87/100
- TMDB rating
- 6.9/10 (438 votes)
About
You’ll likely enjoy this if you want a quiet, darkly funny family drama about caregiving, guilt, and strained sibling bonds, in the vein of The Squid and the Whale; Not for you if you want light escapism or big laughs.
Pros: sharp sibling dynamic; dark, humane humor; strong performances | Cons: heavy, gloomy subject; familiar story beats; uneven emotional payoff
Themes
- daughter
- depression
- sibling relationship
- parent child relationship
- literature professor
- brother
- professor
- son
- alzheimer's disease
- pflegen
- alienation
- sister
- +9 more
Awards & recognition
- Academy Award — Best Actress · 2008 · nominated
- Academy Award — Best Writing, Original Screenplay · 2008 · nominated
Cast & crew
Laura Linney
as Wendy Savage
Philip Seymour Hoffman
as Jon Savage
Philip Bosco
as Lenny Savage
Peter Friedman
as Larry
David Zayas
as Eduardo
Gbenga Akinnagbe
as Jimmy
Cara Seymour
as Kasia
Tonye Patano
as Ms. Robinson
Guy Boyd
as Bill Lachman
Debra Monk
as Nancy Lachman
Directed by Tamara Jenkins