[xrr rating=3.5/5]
Before you get your hopes up, this review has nothing to do with Fred or “Macho Man” Randy Savage.
Strike one: “John Carter.”
Strike two: “Battleship.”
“And Taylor Kitsch digs his feet in at the plate, down 0-2, with only ‘Savages’ to save his big screen career… here’s the pitch… he’s alive, he’s alive! He just hit a gap shot to right-center field! He should be allowed to make at least one more major motion picture!”
Boy, that was a close one. Taylor Kitsch has had a rough year, but “Savages” is a good enough film to keep him in the game for the foreseeable future. I’ve been rooting for this guy ever since “John Carter” started getting bad publicity, even before it hit the theatres.
Then I saw “John Carter.”
Hey, it wasn’t his fault that the film flopped. He acted well in it. The movie just stunk… I was still rooting for him.
Then I saw “Battleship.”
This movie looked great in the previews. Maybe that’s where it should have stayed. But I didn’t blame him for it, he acted well in it. The movie just stunk… I was still rooting for him.
Then I saw “Savages.” And he totally redeemed himself!
But before I go giving all this praise to Taylor Kitsch, he must step up and thank his teammates for helping to carry him through this very good film. Notice I didn’t say “great” film. To me it wasn’t a great film for one reason… the ending. We’ll get to that later.
Let me give you the brief “Matty rundown” of the film.
Two pot growers in Southern California named Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Kitsch), learn to grow the most killer weed in the world. Chon was a Navy SEAL in Afganistan (where the best marijuana is grown). Chon smuggles back seeds to give to Ben. Ben, a brilliant botanist, and a lover of hemp, grows a strain of weed that is 33 percent better than any other “mary-jane” on the planet.
Everybody loves their dope. Doctors buy it from them to give to their cancer patients (weed is legal in California – with prescription). People with glaucoma buy their “doobie” from them because it’s THAT good. And even recreational users buy it from them for, well I don’t know, whatever they use it for. I think they make brownies with it.
They also have a lucrative exporting business. Everybody needs their weed, and they get it from these boys. The boys also share something else… the same girlfriend. Her name is O. Yup, that’s it, just O (played by the beautiful Blake Lively). Don’t worry, everybody involved knows they’re dating each other. They all live together, and this kinky love triangle seems to work for them.
A Mexican drug cartel wants to merge with the boys and take their profits. The boys say no… so the cartel kidnaps O. And this is where it gets crazy. Both boys love O so much that they’ll do anything to get her back… anything. They too, must become savages, just like the savages in the cartel (hence, the title). Needless to say, a lot of bad stuff goes down, and it gets pretty gory. Just the way I like it.
By the way, the leaders of the drug cartel are Elana (Salma Hayek) and her right hand man, Lado (convincingly played by Benicio Del Toro). I think this guy may have been a real drug dealer in a past life, he is that good of an actor. John Travolta plays a dirty DEA agent who plays every angle. He is dynamite in this film. Never once during this film did I think about all the massage parlors he’s ventured into over the years. Kudos Travolta! And last, but certainly not least, Oliver Stone. Stone is a genius when it comes to directing films. “The Doors,” “Platoon,” “Wall Street,” “Natural Born Killers,” “Born on the 4th of July” and “JFK” are just a few of his major hits. He shys away from nothing, and brings controversy and conspiracy theories to many of his films. And that’s why I love his work.
So why in the hell would he end this movie the way he did? He had a great film on his hands and he seemed to NOT know how he wanted to end it… so he ended it twice. That somewhat aggravated me. I love his movies because I want to see how HE sees it playing out. And when it played out twice, it kind of bummed me out. But no worries Oliver, I still really liked the movie.
Taylor Kitsch, you live to fight another day. Make sure to thank everyone involved in this film… and remember, I’m rooting for you!
Matty W. Kelley
Fun Fact: White Rhino, Northern Lights, Master Kush, Jock Horror, Durbin Poison, Buddha, Skunk Red Hair and Turtle Power are all different types of marijuana. FACT.