By Steven Suskin
13 Jul 2008

Laura Linney and Philip Seymour Hoffman are two of our finer contemporary actors, who have happily shuttled between stage and screen for the last decade or so. Ms. Linney just finished a stint in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, while Mr. Hoffman was most recently seen on Broadway in "Long Days Journey into Night in 2003 (which followed his stunning turn in True West). These are high-caliber performers who give high-caliber performances. Since 2001, Linney has two Tony nominations and three Oscar nominations; Hoffman has two Tony noms and two Oscars, winning for "Capote." They teamed up last year for the film The Savages [Fox], giving a pair of riveting performances. They are indeed The Savages, children of an abusive father called Lenny Savage — played by Broadway's own Phil Bosco, who has been trodding the boards for almost fifty years and has a half-dozen Tony nominations of his own. So we get a lot of acting, theatre-style; also in small roles are Peter Friedman, Debra Monk and Rosemary Murphy. Director-writer Tamara Jenkins tells the uncomfortable tale of a pair of siblings forced to confront with their parent's descent into dementia. A difficult subject, yes, but filmed with such honesty and humanity — and perfect acting — that we are caught up in this very special movie.

(Steven Suskin is author of "Second Act Trouble," "Show Tunes," and the "Opening Night on Broadway" books. He can be reached at Ssuskin@aol.com.)