Savages Review

Rated R (Strong Brutal and Grisly Violence, Some Graphic Sexuality, Nudity, Drug Use and Language Throughout)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 11 Minutes

Cast-

Blake Lively-Ophelia 'O' Sage

Aaron Taylor-Johnson-Ben

Taylor Kitsch-Chon

Salma Hayek-Elena Sánchez/Elena La Reina

Benicio del Toro-Miguel Arroyo/Lado

John Travolta-Dennis

Demián Bichir-Alex

Sandra Echeverría-Magda

Emile Hirsch-Spin

Joaquín Cosio-El Azul

Directed by Oliver Stone

Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) prepare to unleash their inner savage in Oliver Stone's latest film, "Savages."

Can an Academy Award-winning director lose his mojo? With a career spanning close to four decades, Oliver Stone's eclectic filmography has invited both critical acclaim and controversy. Graduating from film school at New York University in 1971 (under the mentorship of Martin Scorsese), Stone made his directorial debut in 1974 with surreal horror-thriller "Seizure" but success continued to elude him until 1979, when he won his first Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay for Alan Parker's "Midnight Express," based on Billy Hayes' 1977 novel which chronicled the author's five year imprisonment in Turkey for smuggling four pounds of hashish out of the country and his eventual escape. The 1980's proved to be a pivotal turning point for Stone as 1986's "Platoon," which explored the horror and meaninglessness of war in Vietnam, earned him another Academy Award, this time for Best Director. The next two years saw the release of "Wall Street," introducing audiences to Michael Douglas' Gordon Gecko (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and "Talk Radio," a drama that was partially inspired by the 1984 assassination of radio host Alan Berg. Stone won his third Academy Award for his 1989 adaptation of Ron Kovic's autobiography "Born on the Fourth of July" starring Tom Cruise. Despite the acclaim he has received over the years, Stone has made his fair share of duds but 2004 marked another turning point in his career with the release of "Alexander," a historical epic exploring the life and death of Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great. The film ended up being a massive critical and commercial flop, grossing only $167 million worldwide (not enough to cover production and marketing costs) with a lowly 16% on Rotten Tomatoes. A three hour and thirty-four minute 'Final Cut' was released in 2007 on DVD/Blu-Ray but no amount of deletions or additions could fix the mess that was "Alexander." Since then, Stone's work has received a mixed reception at best, leaving critics and fans wondering if the director's best years were behind him. Does "Savages," based on Don Winslow's 2010 novel of the same name, mark a return to form for Stone? The answer is sadly no as "Savages" is a bloated, overlong film that suffers from lifeless characters, a needlessly convoluted plot that goes nowhere, and pointless scenes of graphic violence that contribute little except for shock value. Stone has clearly hit rock-bottom and while this isn't the worse flick I've seen this year, it's certainly the most boring. 

A young woman narrates: 'Just because I'm telling you this story doesn't mean that I'm alive at the end of it. It's that kind of a story, where things got so out of control...' The woman is named O, short for Ophelia (Blake Lively), who is in a ménage à trois relationship with two men, Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch). A graduate of University of California, Berkeley with a degree in business and botany, Ben runs a lucrative marijuana empire in sunny Laguna Beach, California with his best friend Chon, a former U.S. Navy SEAL who serves as his enforcer, killing anyone that double-crosses them. Using a strain recovered by Chon during his tour of duty in Afghanistan, the marijuana that Ben grows has a THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) content of 33%, making it extremely potent. Although sold to medical dispensaries, Ben and Chon make most of their money by illegally shipping the marijuana out of state. A pacifist who practices Buddhism, Ben has been seeking to get out of the drug business but matters soon take a turn for the worse. Interested in learning how they have cultivated such high-quality marijuana and seeking to expand their operation into California, the Mexican Baja Cartel, led by Elena Sánchez, a.k.a. 'Elena La Reina' (Salma Hayek), sends their lawyer, Alex (Demián Bichir), to negotiate a deal with Ben and Chon. After a short discussion with Chon, Ben decides to give away their whole operation to the cartel but reveals that they won't be joining them. Unwilling to take no for an answer, Elena sends her enforcer, Miguel Arroyo, a.k.a. 'Lado' (Benicio del Toro), to kidnap Ophelia in order to force Ben and Chon to comply with her demands. Faced with no choice, Ben and Chon do as Elena asks but secretly plan to turn the tables on her and rescue Ophelia. Meanwhile, a corrupt DEA agent named Dennis (John Travolta) uses the situation to his advantage by playing both sides against each other. "

Savages" is Oliver Stone's most mainstream film to date but it's also a career worst for the Academy Award-winning director. The first of many problems is the dull narration by Blake Lively's Ophelia that provides redundant exposition to what is already happening on-screen. It's liable to put you to sleep given how lifeless it is. In fact, the character of Ophelia is little more than a glorified MacGuffin. Second is the absolutely inane dialogue. During a furious sexual romp with Chon, Ophelia describes him as 'always trying to f*ck the war out of himself. I have orgasms; he has wargasms.' I do not know whether this is taken verbatim from Winslow's novel but I find it hard to believe that Stone would be the author of such garbage. Given that he wrote the screenplay for the atrocious "Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem" from 2007, I lay the blame on Shane Salerno. Finally, much of the suspense and tension is drained away due to the plodding nature of the film. Even though the running time is only two hours and eleven minutes, "Savages" feels bloated and drawn out with its thinly developed characters doing little to advance the story as they stand around scheming or making empty threats. The only time the film really comes alive is when Ben and Chon, wearing stylized Santa Muerte masks and aided by Chon's squad of ex-Navy SEALs, pull off daring heist where they steal $3 million right under Elena's nose from one of the cartel's stash houses in the middle of the desert. It's a stylishly edited sequence but it's just not enough to save the film. The script attempts to explore the hypocrisy that exists within human nature and how easy it is for people to give into their baser instincts but it lacks subtlety and ultimately devolves into a shallow, predictable tale of revenge and retribution. Themes of power and corruption play a role as well but all of this gets lost in a sea of graphic violence. At one point, a man suspected to be a mole within Elena's cartel is brutally whipped until one of his eyes is left dangling out of its socket and is subsequently burned alive but such scenes come off as gratuitous and serve no purpose other than to provide shock value. The ending will also leave audiences scratching their heads at what happened and comes off as a big 'screw you' from Stone in its attempt at misdirection. "Savages" could've been a great film but instead we're left with an empty, soulless affair that offers little in the way of actual substance. 

The film offers up a few memorable performances that keep it from fully sinking. The best of these is Salma Hayek, who chews up the scenery as the over-the-top leader of the Baja Cartel, Elena. However, her character's behavior is never consistent as she goes from making brutal threats to crying over her daughter, Magda (Sandra Echeverría) at the drop of a hat. Benicio del Toro also gives a similarly scenery-chewing performance as Elena's sadistic enforcer Lado but I could do without the constant mustache twirling. Making his first film appearance in two years, John Travolta is great as a fast-talking, corrupt DEA agent who only wants to survive and has no qualms about pitting those around him against each other. As for the leads, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Taylor Kitsch are solid as two best friends caught in a desperate situation where they are forced to employ extreme methods in order to live. However, it's unlikely to recover Kitch's career given how badly "John Carter" and "Battleship" flopped. The worst performance comes from Blake Lively and it's not just her listless narration. I found myself unable to sympathize with Ophelia given how self-absorbed her character is. 

Released on July 6, 2012, "Savages" has received mixed reviews with 53% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics found it ' undeniably messy, but [the film] finds Oliver Stone returning to dark, fearlessly lurid form.' Opening against "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Katy Perry: Part of Me," Stone's film was never expected to do big business given its hard R-rating and debuted in fourth place with an unremarkable $16.2 million. The production budget was only $45 million but it'll likely struggle to make back that modest amount given the rough competition ahead and poor word-of-mouth. The audience I saw the film with was surprisingly quiet so it was somewhat hard to gauge their reaction but there were some exclamations of confusion during the ending. Oliver Stone has made quite a few masterpieces, which leaves me puzzled as to how a director of such high caliber would make a film as terrible as "Savages." Eric Eisenberg of CinemaBlend sums up the film perfectly: 'In the making of this movie Stone had his head completely on backwards and the result is an absolute mess that will not only lead you to leaving the theater disappointed, but possibly even furious.' I wouldn't say furious, more like sad at how low Stone's career has sunk to.

Final Rating: 2 out of 5

"I like talking to you, Ophelia, but let me remind you that if I had to, I wouldn't have a problem cutting both their throats."