Sunday, July 22, 2012

Savages

Ben (a botanist) and Chon (former Special Forces/Mercenary), played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Taylor Kitsch,  are two best friends from high school who start their own marijuana growing/marketing business in 90s-era Laguna Beach, California.
They are making millions through their grow and distribution network until a Mexican cartel arrives with offer they cannot refuse...
Which they do.
This does not go over well.

So... we got this flower-sniffing hippie teamed up with a professional warrior taking on the most brutal of Mexican cartels for the  privalege of being independent and real...
While the two share the same girlfriend in every sense you can imagine.
This girlfriend (Blake Lively) narrates/voice overs the movie.

The girlfriend, "O" as she is known, sums up the two this way:
"Ben's philosophy is 'Don't fuck with anyone.'...  Chon's philosophy is 'Don't fuck with Ben'..."
Ben is idealistic,  Chon is the muscle,.. and they are dedicated to each other...
And to O.
Yes, this does get interesting...

Oliver Stone directs this one, starring a few names that matter though they should not: Benicio Del Toro and that chica from Desparado....  um... yeah, Salma Hayak.  Or is it Selma? Whatever... That's her. I was less than impressed with both stars, as well as the third name, John Travolta.
The problem is that their performances are not believable:
Instead of seeing see the Cartel Boss, the Enforcer, or the DEA Agent, the viewer gets to see Benicio, Salma and John overly dressed for these parts.
Give me a break. You're supposed to be 'the stars'. If all you're gonna do is mail it in, at least use sufficient postage.

It's the story that saves this endeavor. Lot's of action, violence, brutality, some sex... it's fairly intense. I liked it.
Go ahead and see it.

2 comments:

Brian said...

Most everything I've heard/read has made me want to read the book and skip the movie.

Gino said...

i've heard the book is awesome. i was seriously thinking about taking up fiction reading after reading about it.