Savages

Welcome to another episode of Lights....Camera....Popcorn!



Today's review is Savages.



Directed by Oliver Stone.



Written by Shane Salerno, Don Winslow & Oliver Stone.



Based on the novel Savages. Written by Don Winslow

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Review #164

MPAA Rating: R for strong brutal and grisly violence, some graphic sexuality, nudity, drug use and language throughout..

Runtime: 130 min

Cast

Blake Lively ... O 


Taylor Kitsch ... Chon

Aaron Johnson ... Ben



Benicio Del Toro ... Lado 
 

Joaquín Cosio ... El Azul 


John Travolta ... Dennis 


Demián Bichir ... Alex 


Antonio Jaramillo ... Jaime

Salma Hayek ... Elena 


Emile Hirsch ... Spin

Sandra Echeverría ... Magda

A movie trailer is a lot like a magic trick. It's main purpose is to entice people to see their film. However, trailers sometimes apply the tactic that makes all magic tricks work. 

Misdirection. 

Every once in a while a trailer will feature their film and give you a concrete idea of what it's about. Then you go see it and 1 of 2 things happen.



1) Your pleasantly surprised that the film was better than the trailer depicted.



2) Your super pissed because the film wasn't anything like the trailer you saw. 



Most cases the #2 scenario dominates the spectrum. This is partly due to the fact that the film itself isn't strong. So in order to drum up sales they bait and switch you. Other times it's a poorly thought out and even poorly executed marketing strategy. Neither gimmick leads to successful ticket sales or audience acclaim. Can you guess which scenario Savages falls into?



Here's a hint....It's not #2.


Plot

 

Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend. 



The argument can be made that it's been a while since Oliver Stone has had a legitimate good film. With a filmography that includes classics such as Platoon, Wall Street and Natural Born Killers. It's disappointing to think that a director of his caliber could put together some really sloppy films. Unfortunately he has and now it's time for the real Oliver Stone to stand up. 

Savages gets him off to a really good start.

The best thing this film has going for it is the fact that it's so much more than what the trailer depicts it to be. There's so much more to this story than just the paper thin plot of 2 drug dealers taking on a cartel that kidnapped their girl. Savages at times plays like a much smarter film that doesn't follow the same blueprint the plot suggests. Since I didn't read the book I don't know what was changed and not changed.

I do know that what I saw was pretty damn entertaining.

This has a lot to do with the performances of the cast. Beginning with my all time favorite actress. The exquisite Salma Hayek. I have been in love with this goddess ever since I saw her in Desperado. Taking her astounding beauty away from the equation, she's a fantastic actress that has a lot of range. Now in her early years she was typecast as the damsel in distress or the hot chick that gets naked. Later on in her career she broke away from that stereotype and played more grounded characters.

This is one of those characters.

She plays Elena Sanchez with a quiet and dignified ruthlessness. She's a queen in the drug world and acts like one. Sophisticated yet violent when the time calls for it. And HOLY HELL is she SEXY! Salma plays her drug queen pin very nicely off Blake Lively's captured O. The rapport the 2 beauties have with each other on screen is quite a thing to behold. In fact that's what gives Savages the unique quality of not being run of the mill despite the run of the mill premise.

The same can be said for Ben and Chon. They are the yin to each others yang. Aaron Johnson known for his role in Kick Ass does a much better job of being the chill zen like Ben. Kitsch on the other hand is just robotic enough to be the muscle which is right up his alley with this film. The problem is that he's pretty much the same kind of guy in every movie he's been in. His first major role was screwing up Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Then again that whole movie was a screw up so he just toed the line there. Then he was dreadful in the equally dreadful Battleship. I didn't see it but from eyewitness accounts the only bright spot in that film was Rhianna's performance. That's not a good thing boys and girls.

How in the world does Peter Berg get keep on making movies?

Anyway, Chon shows off just the right amount of emotion to pass as a human being. His character is supposed to be a bit detached from the outside world so it made sense in this case. The rest of the cast does their part to make Savages enjoyable. Del Toro stands out from the ensemble as a pretty scary dude. His mullet hair style and bushy mustache hide his devilish motives when sent on a "job". All told Savages is a pretty good film that could have been better if it wasn't for one little detail.

The ending....It SUCKED!

As always I can't explain what happens. I will say that it was the cheapest cop out finale I have seen in a while and I can't for the life of me figure out why Stone went this way. I almost felt the same way I did after seeing Skyline. The only difference was that Skyline was a horrible from from the opening credits to the end. Savages was and is a really good film without the B.S. ending that just killed it for me.

On the 5 star scale. Savages gets 3 stars with a split "Go See It/Netflix It" recommendation.

That's a wrap for today. Up next is the main event. The one we've all been waiting for. The Dark Knight Rises. 

Can this one beat The Avengers money haul? I think it can.

Until Next Episode...."I'll Save You A Seat!"

"D"