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."
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