"Savages" - 2012 - movie review

Though not without it's flaws "Savages" is Oliver Stone's best film in years. It tells the tale of a SoCal bromance between Taylor Kitsch's character Chon and Aaron Johnson's character Ben, two guys from different sides of the attitudinal divide. Chon is an Afghanistan vet who sees the world as something that changes people whereas Ben is a yoga and sprouts guy who sees the world as something we change through our actions. Who's right? Well, of course they both are. But the difference in world outlook isn't as important to the story Stone is telling as it is a useful narrative device for the director to weave his tale around.

Chon returns from war with an idea: the Afghans produce the world's most potent weed so why not smuggle home some seeds and grow and sell that super-pot here in America, a country drowning in garbage weed from down south? Ben helps him set up his cottage industry and in a few years the friends are sharing the considerable spoils of their entrapanurial victory. Those spoils include one O (played by Blake Lively who also acts as narrator of the story). A consumer with few if any redeeming qualities she is both the character that drives the narrative and the movies weakest link. Who would go out of their way, risking life and limb, for O as she's portrayed here? It's a question that kept asking itself as the story went on and sadly one that remained when the film drew to a close. Stone wants us to believe that she's some kind of uber-pure spirit whose presence the boys need to keep them anchored to the world, when in fact she's clearly just a consumer gal who'd be out the door the minute the money dried up. If you can put aside the implausibility of these guys giving up everything they have and believe in in order to save her, though, you'll find the rest of the film works well as a pulpy, hard-nosed tale of David vs Goliath.

But let's backtrack a minute. I mentioned that the guys have created a mini-dynasty by bringing world class weed to the domestic market. While that fact makes them plenty of dough it also attracts the attention of a drug cartel from south of the border (led by Selma Hyak's Elena) who are being pressured from within Mexico and are looking for greener pastures up north. They make Chon and Ben a buyout offer they can't refuse but after the boys hesitate Elena has O kidnapped and held as insurance against their co-operation. The boys world begins to unravel as do they and their moral codes. The stakes continue to rise as they play an all-or-nothing game of cat and mouse with Elena and her crew in an attempt to have their cake and eat it too. Their plan is to raise enough cash to buy O's freedom outright and then jump ship with whatever they have left.

The film zips right along with Lively's screen time being mercifully limited. Kitsch and Johnson play well off each other with John Travolta as a corrupt DEA agent and Benicio del Toro as Elena's number one guy (who is playing a high stakes game of his own trying to ensure he comes out the other end of the drug wars on the winning side) giving first rate supporting performances. Though Stone occasionally delves into visual gimmicks as a way to keep things 'edgy' for the most part he displays a steady hand throughout and the film doesn't need tricks to hold our attention. Things careen toward the big climax... and then the end happens.

What's to be made of the ending Stone has chosen for what was an otherwise outstanding effort? It brought to mind the tacked on ending of the original theatrical release of "Blade Runner" where the studio dug up a bunch of leftover footage from "The Shining" and forced Ridley Scott to create an ending that was contrary to nearly every other aspect of the film. The difference between that debacle (later fixed) and the ending of "Savages" is that the ending on display in "Savages" wasn't forced on the film maker; it was Stone's decision. I have to ask myself if he showed this ending to anyone whose opinion he trusts before locking the edit because it's so contrary to the tenor of the rest of the film as to be almost absurb.

And that's too bad, because for most of it's run time "Savages" was a movie that had me in it's hold. I can only hope that at some point in the future a recut is made available that dumps Stone's ending squarely onto the cutting room floor where it belongs. The rest of the film deserves nothing less.