I watched The Savages the other night, and it’s really good. One of the executive producers, Jim Taylor (in a bit of kismet, Taylor is the writing partner of my profilee last month, Alexander Payne) said in an interview that The Savages wasn’t “long on plot.” That’s an understatement. If you want plot, watch The Spanish Prisoner. On the other hand, if you want a movie that won’t make you pull your eyes out and scream in anguish, don’t. The Savages stars the above-mentioned Hoffman and the always good Laura Linney as siblings called into action to care for their dying father. It’s pretty standard pseudo-estranged family drama stuff, but the key thing is PSH. His mumbling, stumbling, grungy theater professor is, as his roles usually are, the gem of the film. He has worked in some of the best true-life films of recent years: This one, and P.T. Anderson’s seminal Punch Drunk Love and Magnolia, to name just a few. Oh, and Mission Impossible III (possibly the most underrated film of all time…, though admittedly, not so true-life).

Hoffman captures the essence and essential struggle of human people, and creates characters that, while not always likable, always leave a mark. He slums it sometimes, like everyone else (I’m talking to you, Cold Mountain), but, in the main, is excellent. I suppose there’s not a lot of theological meat in this post, but we’ll get to that. For the moment, it’s enough to say that Philip Seymour Hoffman often plays human beings, and plays them well, which is recommendation enough.

Great movies no one has ever seen: (The Castle, Rob Sitch, 1997)

COMMENTS

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6 responses to “Mockingbird at the Movies: Philip Seymour Hoffman”

1. John Stamper says:

   03/06/2009 at 2:45 pm

   Thanks Nick. I loved “The Savages” — partly for Philip Seymour Hoffman, and also for Laura Linney, who I think does just beautiful work all the time. She’s in another brother-sister film called “You Can Count On Me”, which I think is one of the great movies of the last 10 years.

   Philip Seymour Hoffman does wonderful work in MAGNOLIA (as you mention) and also BOOGIE NIGHTS (in one of the most poignant unrequited love scenes ever made).

   I just added THE CASTLE to my queue… 🙂

   Reply
2. John Zahl says:

   03/06/2009 at 3:15 pm

   Deirdre and I liked it too. Bleak realism, not unlike Half-Nelson.

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3. dpotter says:

   03/06/2009 at 7:19 pm

   Wonderful…I love the fact that you post on Friday, Nick, so that we have time to check out these flicks over the weekend. We thought he was terrific in Doubt and don’t miss his role as a CIA agent in Charlie Wilson’s War…though I’m not sure Along Came Polly did him any justice.

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4. JDK says:

   03/07/2009 at 7:42 pm

   don’t forget Happiness. .

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5. John Zahl says:

   03/10/2009 at 10:16 pm

   do forget Happiness.

   Reply