Review - Savages

Grade: A-

Short of the Avengers and a few expected (Madagascar) and unexpected (Ted and Magic Mike) successes , this summer has, so far, been depressingly disappointing. In fact, you know things are bad when A-list auteurs of the 70s, 80s, and 90s like Ridley Scott and Oliver Stone are dropping flicks in the middle of summer, when, by all rights, they should be releasing prestige films in October or November. Sadder still is the experience of watching these directors being forced to claw their way into to relevance for an audience, myself included, that was likely to young to remember when each was at their peak. While this has been particularly agonizing to watch in Scott's case, with his alternately praised and maligned Prometheus, Stone turns the table and offers a far more pleasing experience with Savages, a simple tale of love, entrepreneurship in America, and the threat of globalization. Oh, and it's about weed, vicious drug cartels, and the sublime pleasure of watching trust fund stoners and Bush-era war vets raised on Call of Duty and computer hacking fight back against those cartels with more brains than brawn.

Savages centers around SoCal kush kings and lifelong friends, Ben (Aaron Johnson, almost completely unrecognizable from his role as vigilante punching bag Kick Ass) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch, utilized far more effectively here than in his previous outings this year), and the love of their life, disaffected shopgirl, Ophelia (Blake Lively). Between weed-addled trysts with Ophelia, together and individually, Ben and Chon manage to run a marijuana empire that sells the finest bud, 33% THC content to be exact, in the world, thanks to college boy Ben's experience as a Business-Botany double major at Berkeley and former enlisted man Chon's access to Afghani marijuana seeds during his deployment in Afghanistan.Within their relatively illicit enterprise, Chon is the muscle, enforcing deals that must be handled with a particularly hard-nosed delicateness, and Ben is the face, spending more time utilizing profits to philanthropic means by building schools in developing countries than growing or brokering deals. When confronted by an expanding north Mexican cartel, led Elena Lorena (Salam Hayek, wonderfully over-the-top but with greater nuance than Charlize Theron's performance in June's Snow White), Ben and Chon are faced with turning control of their empire to the "Wal-mart" of grass distribution. As any independent, successful businessman would do, they turn down the offer, which sets off a chain of events that leads to Ophelia's capture by Elena's duplicitious, decapitation happy enforcer, Lado (a slimier than usual Benicio Del Toro). To save Ophelia, Ben must eschew the Buddhist leanings that have guided his life and business and embrace the ugly practicality of Chon's more physical approach while learning why takeovers are rarely anything less than hostile.

Stone dials back his typical stylistic indulgences, mostly, to make Savages a pretty straightforward adaption of Don Winslow's, who wrote the screenplay, 2010 novel. Stone does an especially solid job of using Winslow's script to craft a flick that is reminiscent of the Tarantino-esque crime films that dominated the late 90s--which, as a show of my age, I'll admit to being partial to--without delving into the parody or shameless aping of Tarantino's style, which a director of Stone's ilk should never have to do. One thing that Stone understands is the one thing that makes Savages work and other "hip" crime dramas fail is that Stone and Winslow allow the characters to remain generally smart, relying on brains over brawn, generally. One of the central conceits of Savages is that Ben and Chon are clearly outgunned by the cartel, but they have resources that are equal to, if not greater than, the cartel's, which they use in a way that prevents them from generally diving into the kind of two-man army assault that would have likely got them killed. When the two turn the tables on one of the cartel's higher-ups, it is so simple and smart that one can't help but be impressed, right up until the consequences of their actions becomes painfully tangible. Stone and Winslow don't play coy with the consequence angle either; it is very clear that, no matter how clean Ben and Chon have tried to make their business, it is an inherently dirty business, at least until the fed finally legalizes Mary Jane.

Savages is hoisted near greatness not only by the work behind the camera but by some solid performances from some unusual suspects. Aaron Johnson, in particular, shines as Ben, playing him as an earthy peacenik with just the right balance of naiveté, melancholy, and optimism. Taylor Kitsch is finally used properly as a member of an ensemble rather than the main attraction, revealing the same shell shocked sadness that marked his work on Friday Night Lights. John Travolta, as a DEA agent who keeps Ben and Chon out of cuffs, relies on his trademarked wacky mania, which would seem out of place if it wasn't such a clear complement to Del Toro and Hayek's own brand of controlled insanity. In fact, Del Toro almost deserves an MVP trophy for playing his slimy executioner with such dynamism that you're not sure whether to laugh at him or cringe when he's on screen. Blake Lively is...Blake Lively. Nothing about her character is significantly likable or engaging--she's effectively a human MacGuffin--and her performance doesn't do much to change that opinion, but I wonder if that wasn't the point. Maybe her character, and her performance, were meant to evoke the sense of an aimless, possibly worthless empty vessel. If so, she knocked it out the part; if not, she'll likely be in another similar role very soon.

All in all, Savages really shows that Stone, despite a run of missteps, steal has more than enough juice left in the tank to crank out a near-classic. Granted, the flick is steeped in late 90s crime movie tropes, so expect gratuitous sex and violence to a degree not seen in the increasingly sanitized world of mainstream film. Also, some of Savages' more direct stabs at humor fall a bit flat, but overall, this is a real return to form for Stone and a solidly engaging experience. If anything, it is a far better R-rated flick from an A-list autuer than Prometheus.

Yin and Yang of it:

Yang: Sharp direction, smart plotting, and solid performances elevate already great source material. 

Yin: May be a bit violent and explicit for those who were not raised on real R-rated movies; Blake Lively; Humor occasionally misses the mark

In Between: There has to be a cut of this movie where Ben calls Hit-Girl for some help with this pesky cartel.