I was thinking while I was watching this movie that Phillip Seymor Hoffman and Laura Linney really are national treasures. Especially, Hoffman, who kind of rubs me the wrong way as a person, but consistently year after year turns in one, two or even three performances of note, working in mostly the best of what the semi-mainstream film world has to offer. Here in Tamra Jenkins second movie he gives the sort of complex performance filled with confidence and sadness he's been counted on for a decade now; hitting all the right notes and separating this character almost entirely from his role in Sidney Lumet's masterful Before the Devil Knows You're Dead. With only this and the equally affecting Slums of Beverly Hills under her belt in the last ten years, I hope that Ms. Jenkins can provide more features to her resume in the coming years. Far too few women participate at all in the realm of movie direction, and especially in the realm of serious movie direction. The two that have shown promise, Jenkins and Lynne Ramsey (whose Morvern Collar is a masterpiece) both seem to float for painful amounts of times between projects. The Savages deals with the fear of our parents eventual deaths in very realistic tones, embedded with the naturalistic comedy that made Margot at the Wedding so amazing. The two movies being excellent companion pieces for each other, both taking on the turmoil of family life in a way that will ring true for most anyone.