Savages (Oliver Stone, 2012)

In the late 80’s and early 90’s Oliver Stone made some great films like Wall Street, Platoon, Natural Born Killers and The Doors. These movies were very decent and influential. Unfortunately Stone never managed to impress me with his more recent work like Alexander or Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps or one of the many president-biographies. You can imagine I was a bit sceptical about Savages, a film about two Californian pot growers whose services are wanted by a Mexican drug cartel. But luckily it seems Stone found his roots again and delivered his best film in years.

Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Johnson) have a secret recipe to grow the best weed in the world and they have a really successful business. They share their girlfriend O (Blake Lively) in what appears to be a functional love triangle. When a Mexican drug boss Elena (Salma Hayek!) gets affected by competition and the financial crisis she wants cooperation with the two friends, who prefer to stay independent. When they turn down Elena’s non-negotiable offer her crew decides to kidnap their shared love-interest.

The synopsis above sounds a bit lame and unoriginal and I guess it is. But there are a few fantastic roles like John Travolta as a corrupt DEA officer and Benicio del Toro as Elena’s ruthless number two. Their acting is awesome, the dialogue is fast, witty and the action is brutal and effective. Hayek is very believable as a merciless drug boss but caring mother. The leads by for instance Lively (who is the narrator as well) are a bit disappointing but still good enough to get you through 131 minutes of fun and excitement.

Of course everything is somewhat predictable and done before a thousand times (the usual twists and turns), but Stone managed to execute everything really well and even impressed me now and then with his style. It almost looks as if he was inspired by Tony Scott’s Domino, except that Savages is somewhat slower and easier on the eye (luckily).

Yes, I believe that Stone is back. Savages is very entertaining and despite its slight predictably it is suspenseful and entertaining, very well done by the director.

7.5/10