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Philip Seymour Hoffman

 Ten years after Philip Seymour Hoffman's death, there are several performances that stay with me: "Talented Mr. Ripley," "Moneyball," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," "Capote," "Magnolia," "Doubt."


But my own favorite is "The Savages." I think of this as a spiritual sequel to "You Can Count on Me." 

In "YCC on Me," Laura Linney is the responsible sibling; in "The Savages," she is the one who can't grow up. She has to fly to Buffalo to deal with her senile dad; this guy was abusive, in his golden era, and now he is beyond reach. Linney believes that if she makes the right moves, she might somehow achieve "closure" with her father. Old wounds will be healed. Of course, she is wrong, and her anger keeps rearing its head in surprising ways. She requires the "elder care" residents to watch "Daddy's favorite film," which has substantial interludes of "blackface." She becomes enraged when a certain pillow disappears--and she makes wild accusations, among the nurses.

Philip Seymour Hoffman has the less showy role; he is the cerebral, allegedly grounded sibling. But--actually--he is a mess in his own way. He glosses over his rage with pseudo-intellectual lingo--but this only goes so far. In one scene I love, his sister asks to "upgrade" the father--to a better nursing home--and PSH loses his mind. He says there are no "nice nursing homes." He goes on: "People die, and it's gruesome and filthy. Inside those walls....it's a fucking horror show. It's rot, and piss, and shit." He is lecturing his sister--but, really, he is lecturing himself; a part of him is just as childish and inarticulate as the Little Baby in the Family.

Because life is what it is, the big Eugene O'Neill speech is interrupted; a friendly cleaning person passes by. PSH doesn't overplay the comedy; he makes you feel like you're observing actual life, all the way through the final scene.

I'm away next week so my schedule might be erratic. Here's the clip I admire.....

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