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[December 26th, 2007]

SURFACE DWELLER

After reading N.P. Thompson’s hissy fit masquerading as a review for The Savages (“Singing, Dancing, Dying,” WW , Dec. 19, 2007), I can only conclude that the writer spent his formative years sitting at the “cool kids” table making fun of everyone deemed beneath him. OK, we get it, Thompson doesn’t like Philip Seymour Hoffman and, to a lesser extent, Laura Linney. But to deride an Oscar-winning actor of Hoffman’s caliber as being merely “doughy cheek(ed)” and “multiple chin(ned)” is just mean-spirited. It’s also incredibly lazy writing.

The reviewer goes on to scorn Linney for “wearing a brown fright wig” and being involved with a character who is “homely” and (gasp) “sports a comb-over.” It makes one wonder why Thompson feels the need to spend so much of his precious few column inches on the physical shortcomings of the people in this film. Is his self-esteem really so low that making fun of the appearance of others is somehow self-elevating?

If one just reads Thompson’s review, they might surmise that The Savages is a dud of a flick. The only problem with that is that the American Film Institute just named The Savages as one of the 10 most outstanding films of 2007. So, let’s see...do I trust the opinion of a respected panel of film experts, or the self-important ramblings of a frustrated hack with an obvious ax to grind?

David Benedetti
North Concord Avenue