Savages

I have to admit. I kind of knew I wasn't going to like this movie before I ever got to the theater. And I was right. But I'm still trying to figure out why.

I mean, it has some of my favorites in it. Taylor Kitsche, Aaron Johnson, Blake Lively. What's not to like?

1. Yeah, I gotta admit the shared girlfriend didn't exactly amuse me. It felt like a slap in the face for feminists, everywhere. Here we have a poor little rich girl who seems actually oblivious to the real world.
2. The first 20 minutes were a bit obnoxious. Obviously rich kids getting it on in another world. Lack of true character developement. But hey, I doubt many came to this movie ..wanted  character development. This is no TRUE ROMANCE, where each character is an individual with their own premise in just a few words and scenes. To bad Hitsche's Tim Riggins (FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS) wasn't here to the rescue this film. Maybe if Tarantino had been there to create O ..more of an Alabama Whitman... then the film might have had a certain zest to it to catch this film on fire.
3. I couldn't stand Blake Lively's narration.

Its been said that Jennifer Lawerence turned down the part of O, played by Blake Lively. Thank God, she did. I really didn't like Blake Lively's character.

"so yeah. Hayek’s cartel wants to cut a deal with Captain Bland & Hippie McGee, but they want out of the drug business and suggest a counter offer which the cartel doesn’t like so they kidnap of blake lively. thus begins the convoluted plot where almost everyone is betraying someone else. there’s quite a bit of action and the scenery looks great. the soundtrack is pretty swank too."-pizza&fairytales

Hayek's Elena character has been through a lot. Still, can't say we really knew the heart and soul of her.

So here you have a new, young generation of actors on the soft end of the story - selling and growing weed. But there are the well seasoned bunch, as well. John Trovolta and Bernico Del Toro who's characters are as crooked as you can get. And of course, Selma Hayek as the main villian who's Elena is a survivor for the most part of the drug cartel.

Going from good to bad.

I gotta say, I'm not sure I ever want to go to another Oliver Stone film. Although, there was the shock of horror of what goes on with these deadly drug rings. Still it was a two hour movie that dragged on. And then at the end couldn't make up its mind which end to choose.

This is based on Don Winslow's novel. And if you've read the book, you probably don't want to see what a mess they made of it.. in the movie.

Del Toro is naturally down right scary. Trovolta really wasn't in it enough. But maybe that's a good thing. Perhaps the movie was just too complicated.

Are there no more Latin heroes on the horizon? With the war on drugs these days.... pointing to the bad influence of Mexico? I feel sure there are plenty of true stories out there of the survivors of this drug war that would have been much more Oscar worthy than Oliver Stone's film. However, I might have loved this movie if it had been "Esteben's story". Diego Catano (Esteben) only had a bit part in this film as the newbie of Lado's men. Naturally, he didn't last long. But it would have been far more interesting just how this young guy fell into this very dark cruel world.




"We built temples to our fantasies- film studios, amusement parks, crystal cathedrals, mega churches- and flocked to them…..We reinvented ourselves every day, remade our culture, locked ourselves in gated communities, we ate healthy food, we gave up smoking, we lifted our faces while avoiding the sun, we had our skin peeled, our lines removed, our fat sucked away like unwanted babies, we defied aging and death.
We made gods of wealth and death.
A religion of narcissism.
In the end, we worshiped only ourselves.
In the end, it wasn’t enough."

—	Narrator, Savages by Don Winslow

STORYLINE: Entrepreneurs Ben, a peaceful and charitable marijuana producer, and friend Chon, a former Navy SEAL, run a lucrative, homegrown industry - raising some of the best weed ever developed. They also share a one-of-a-kind love with Ophelia. Life is idyllic in their Southern California town... until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena and her enforcer, Lado, underestimate the unbreakable bond of the three friends, Ben and Chon - with the reluctant assistance of a dirty DEA agent - wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.

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