July 05, 2012 Movies » Movie Reviews

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Savages 

Blake Lively embodies sleep on the screen, bringing the intensity down

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click to enlarge Stoners philosopizing
  • Stoners philosopizing

Moments in Oliver Stone's pulpy drug caper, Savages, connect with the violence and horror it wants to evoke. But then Blake Lively's sleepy, surfer-girl narration pops up and any goodwill washes away. Lively, as “O,” brings nearly nothing to her role as lady love to a couple of polyamorous pot-growing buddies (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Taylor Kitsch). When “O” is kidnapped by a drug cartel trying to teach her loves a lesson, the boys instead fight fire with fire to get her back. Veterans, like a fierce Salma Hayek as the cartel boss and a slimy Benecio del Toro as her number two, are left to do the heavy lifting here. The director and his protagonists seem more concerned with stoner philosophizing about the currency of violence. Which doesn't exactly burn up the screen.

  • Blake Lively embodies sleep on the screen, bringing the intensity down

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Savages
130 min. | Rated R (MPAA)
Official Site: www.savagesfilm.com
Director: Oliver Stone
Writer: Shane Salerno, Don Winslow and Oliver Stone
Producer: Oliver Stone, Moritz Borman and Eric Kopeloff
Cast: Blake Lively, John Travolta, Aaron Johnson, Benicio Del Toro, Emile Hirsch, Salma Hayek, Taylor Kitsch and Demain Bichir

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