Savages is a 2012 crime thriller about two pot growers who face off against a Mexican drug cartel after kidnapping their shared girlfriend.
First of all, it’s always something to sit through an Oliver Stone film, his work so eclectic, if you’re any kind of film fan, there’s a joy in just experiencing whatever he puts together. Even films that don’t quite work are nonetheless a challenging and often rewarding watch just for the risks he likes to take. Platoon remains a favorite of course, yet I’ve always been partial to Born on the Fourth of July, a much more inventive film that really sees the director at the top of his game.
In 2012, he released Savages, based on the book of the same name by Don Winslow. It’s a flawed film that met with critical division, some not embracing the lurid angles of the seedy story while others appreciating more Stone’s vision of a drug deal gone wrong. I’m firmly in the latter, mostly because it’s not too hard to overlook some of the more obvious platitudes of the genre in favor of the style and performances: Handsome young criminal but likable heroes in over their heads? Yep. Brutal drug cartel goons gruesomely threatening bloody death at every turn? Check. Corrupt authority figure in it for greed? Got that. Ridiculously good-looking woman caught right at the middle of it? You know it.
The story centers on three California friends, Chon (Taylor Kitsch), a former soldier who brought marijuana seeds back from Afghanistan, Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a college grad and expert in botany, who teamed with him to create a strain of pot that made them a fortune, and “O” (Blake Lively) – short for Ophelia, a name from Shakespeare I promise I won’t spend a single word on for it’s metaphorical connections – the lovely blonde girl who calls both men her lovers. All is good with the trio in their open sexual relationship until one day they get an offer from Mexican drug-cartel enforcer Miguel “Lado” Arroyo (Benicio del Toro) on the behest of leader Elena Sánchez (Salma Hayek), wanting the boys to join them in a partnership. No is not an option … but … they decline anyway, and knowing it a bad idea, decide to hide in Indonesia for a year, but Elena has other plans and kidnaps O to get what she wants. Time for war.
So let’s talk about Lively. While the film is a blustering testosterone-fueled action flick, it’s all in the name of O, who spends most of her time either in the arms of her two muscular men or brutally ravaged by Lado in captivity. It would seem a thankless part, she merely a body serving as catalyst to engineer the violence that surrounds her. In a sense, that’s true, but O is a more complicated character than she nearly deserves to be, even though much of these traits are lost in the larger bombastics of the film.
Lively’s job is essentially to look pretty and be the prize for those willing to go the distance. However, O is subtly written, and Lively clutches upon the smaller corners of the character to deliver a troubling little performance that, for the keen observer, peels back a real desperation. The result is gently haunting, giving O greater sadness beyond the urgency of her situation.
Watch how she bows her head when it comes time to realize her boys are really going through with their plan. Notice the ache in her eyes when Lado threatens her, or the fright in her voice when she pleads to a camera for any kind of reasoning to what’s happening. In a film all about big sweeping action, Lively is limited to small movements, but they have a curious impact because O is, in no uncertain terms, the purity in all this, dressed in slowly soiling white, her once radiant beauty crushed under the filth of evil. That might seem a little too on the nose in description, but in Stone’s deft hands and with Lively’s nuanced turn, it’s brilliant.
The irony is of course that O is not perfect, that purity tarnished, brittle from years of casual drug use and a needy persona that has led her straight into the bear trap. Her love of two men, who she claims together make one (Chon is animalistic and Ben tender), have blinded her to the spiral, the immediate wealth and copious exposure to intense physical pleasures leaving her almost numb to the possiblity of danger. It’s not easy to watch, but that’s because Lively absolutely becomes consumed by the character and in so doing, does the same for us. It’s magnetic.
Savages is often looney, the bad guys cartoony and the plot contrived. However, it’s also very well written with some great dialogue throughout, including a small part from John Travolta who shows up to chew some scenery and add his special brand of madness to the mayhem. There are a few exquisitely directed set pieces and Stone, as expected, continues to prove he’s a master at suspense (and I love that little lens flare the moment a character takes off a blindfold). There’s a terrible choice involving some narration that is head-scratchingly misguided, but at least it’s not oppressive and serves only to fill in what the filmmakers think we well, need filling in (I’m convinced this was a studio mandate against Stone’s wishes). Still, this is about big, bold, in-your-face BAM, and Stone delivers. But no matter all that, it all comes down to Lively, who saves this from the start. She’s why you should watch.