Movie Spoiler SAVAGES (2012) - after review

Savages: Movie Spoiler Summary (after capsule review).  Based on the Don Winslow novel, Hollywood veteran Oliver Stone's latest endeavor jumps back into the drug game.  Two best friends (played by Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) run a mostly clean drug business and share the same girl (Blake Lively).  When a Mexican drug cartel kidnaps her in order to get a piece of their action, they decide to save her at any cost.  Lively, though limited, is surprisingly charismatic.  John Travolta is solid as a federal agent, as well is the always dependable Benicio Del Toro.  However, the real standout is Salma Hayek as a slinky Mexican matriarch, whose fluctuations from cooly composed to going bonkers is just too enjoyable.  Stone is a filmmaker whose ego often exceeds his talent (sometimes egregiously).  While I appreciated his work in the 1980s, his career devolved into self-congratulatory pablum in the 1990s and beyond.  Not even the action excursion U-Turn was much fun.  But, that has all changed.  With Savages, Stone has made one of his most satisfying films to date.  His direction is self-assured and he shows off his flair like a proud peacock (as well, he should).  The script, though not perfect, is smart and Stone makes it incredibly entertaining for the audience.  To ensure that the tragic elements of the real life drug cartel situations aren't completely lost, he includes some darker elements that keep the movie in check, as far as Hollywood goes.  So, to Bryce Forestieri, commenter over at Awards Daily, I eat my words.  No, Stone does not suck.  But I still believe Midnight in Paris was one of the best films of last year.  

The film opens with the Universal logo following by a masked man (quite possibly the character Lado played by Benicio Del Toro) getting ready to decapitate a bunch of hostages with a chainsaw.  We hear the sounds and film starts the opening credits.  O (Blake Lively), short for Ophelia ("the bipolar basket case in Hamlet who committed suicide.  So, I cut it down to just 'O'"), begins narrating the movie in a voice-over, as we watch her walk along waves crashing on the beach.  "Just cuz I'm telling you this story doesn't mean I'm alive at the end of it." (she is)  "Things just got so out of control."  The footage becomes a series of images shooting out rapid-fire indicating a reversal in time "back to the beginning."  O hangs out with best friends Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch) who live in and work out of a house on Laguna Beach.  We watch her have sex with Chon, while the voice-over explains he's a veteran of both the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.  "He's always trying to fuck the war out of himself.  I have orgasms.  He has wargasms."  She dopes up ("Chon says drugs are a rational response to insanity") while he watches a video of headless bodies on his computer.

The good life in Laguna Beach

It's a message more or less that if he doesn't agree to a business deal with a certain drug cartel, the consequences could be dire.  "I guess you've figured out by now, if people are willing to go Henry VIII on this, Chon and Ben grow some of the best weed in the world."  Ben arrives from Africa and the three catch up.  The voice-over gives a history of the lead characters.  Ben's got the brains and Chon's got the brawn (they both have the looks and make lots of money); they started their business with premium weed (their highly sought product has a "30% THC level") from Afghanistan.  O started working for them and subsequently became their shared girlfriend.  They're making cash hand over fist selling to dispensaries and shipping out-of-state.  Ben is also big on giving back to communities with their proceeds.  We watch O and Ben make love.  "Chon is cold metal, Ben is warm wood.  Chon fucks.  Ben makes love.  Chon is earth and Ben's spirit.  And, the one thing they have in common is me.  I'm the home that neither of them have ever had.  And, they're mine."  On the deck, Chon shares with Ben that he wants to make a deal with the cartel, but Ben wants out.  

More of the good life in Laguna Beach

Lado visits a client behind payments, Chad (Shea Whigham), and arrives with a group of men pretending to be landscapers (a brilliant touch).  Chad offers to hook him up with drug lord El Azul (Joaquín Cosio), who is taking over the Mexican drug landscape and putting Lado's boss Elena (Salma Hayek) out of business.  After Chad calls him, Lado shoots him in the kneecaps.  He talks to Azul, shoots Chad in the head, and hangs up.  Lado forces a young recruit Esteban (Diego Catano) to kill Chad's girlfriend (Karishma Ahluwalia).  A shaken Esteban crosses himself afterwards and Lado does a line of coke as they rush out of the house.  The "landscapers" leave with the bodies stuffed into garbage cans (brilliant).  

*** More Movie Spoilers ***

 FBI high-level drug enforcement agent Dennis Kane (John Travolta, in a solid performance) helps keep Ben and Chon in business for a cut of their profits.  The three meet and the young men express concern over the pressure they're getting to do business with the cartel.  "The forks are out and the pie's getting smaller ... they're Walmart.  You're Ben and Chon.  They want a Ben and Chon section in aisle three."  Ben: "Fine, tell them [they'll get shitty doors] and buy their own fucking lamps."  Kane still expects to get the same pay, because he keeps them in business.  "It's just a matter of time, guys, before they legalize this shit.  DON'T FUCK WITH WALMART."  He encourages them to take the deal, which doesn't sit well with Ben.  It's learned that Dennis' wife is dying of cancer, but she smokes weed to deal with the chemo.  In the car, Ben informs Chon that it's time to get out of the drug business.

Aaron Johnson: remember his name

At a hotel room, the young men meet with Alex Reyes (Demián Bichir, recent Oscar winner for A Better Life) who informs them that they're needed for three years.  They'll get more money and leased U.S. Indian tribal land not subject to federal law to grow the company and the boys will teach his cartel their business model.  Chon: "A joint venture, no pun intended."  Alex wants 20% of the profits.  The young men discuss matters out on the balcony, where Chon's surveillance team, led by Wiley including ex-SEALS Doc (Jake McLaughlin), Sam (Alexander Wraith), and Billy (Anthony Cutolo), listen in.  The boys decline the corroboration and flat-out offer up the business instead.  Chon: "I think, basically, you want us to eat your shit and call it caviar."  In a comical moment, one of Alex's men translates it in Spanish for another.  Alex gives them 24 hours to reconsider.

*** More Movie Spoilers ***

At the business, Ben and Chon ask Spin (Emile Hirsch) to help them shut things down and get the fuck out of Dodge to Indonesia.  He's also laundering money under their nose.  Later that night, Ben and Chon invite O out for dinner and ask her to join them, and she compares them to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.  "Didn't they killed at the end?"  O: "Well, not the girl."  They're being watched by Lado's team.  They go back to the house to get stoned and have sex/make love.  Over the phone, Lado shares with Elena that he thinks they're going to run.  It includes the exchange, (Lado)"I can't find my prick here," (Elena) "That's because it's too fucking small."  Lado describes O.  Elena, distinguishing between the boys by expressions they used, "Does she belong to Nothing Personal or Eat Shit Caviar?"  She decides that the girl is an important bargaining chip.  While the three youngins talk, the soundtrack includes a slow, Spanish version of "Psycho Killer."  

The next morning, O prepares by making a pilgrimage to the shopping mall in her red mini Cooper and leaves a deceptive note to her mother.  There's an effective scene involving Lado's people masquerading as a cop and killing a civilian and stealing his car.  "Do you know why I stopped you, sir?"  "Let me guess."  (He's black, but, then, Sala Baker, who plays the officer, is a man of color, also)  After that is a great scene in the mall showing how truly lovely and easy O's life is, but also kind of poking fun at her ignorant excess.  Also shopping is Elena's daughter Magda(lena) (Sandra Echeverría), who YOU KNOW is going to figure into the plot later (an excusably predictable element).  Ben and Chon call Alex to lie to him that they've had a change of heart.  But, they soon receive video footage of a kidnapped O accompanied by a threatening message that turns her head into a cartoon, which gets cut off her body and bobs around the screen dripping blood.  Elena talks to the boys via video and convinces Chon to put a gun into his mouth and almost has O's fingers chopped off.  "Next time we ask you to do something, I don't want to hear 'eat shit caviar,' am I clear?"  She orders them to make a delivery of 300 lbs of pot to Chula Vista within the next five hours.  Lado takes O's blindfold off and directs her attention to her new temporary surroundings, which aren't pleasant and pretty basic.  She asks him where her toothbrush is and Lado responds, "Do you want to use my finger?"  

John Travolta looks like the devil here; is it because he
made a pact with one  (sorry, couldn't resist)

Ben and Chon decide to find O and put Eric (Sean Stone) in charge while they're gone.  On their way down, they think that they're going to get pulled over by a cop, but they don't.  They deliver the drugs, which includes a car exchange.  Lado gets O to drink a substance laced with a strong sedative.  Elena calls the boys and tells them that the terms have changed to 70/30 and O will be in captivity for one year.  Ben suggests that they pay Elena off.  Chon: "Savages don't make deals."  While watching a reality show with Esteban, O gets up and pleads to the camera sending feed to Elena.   Dennis meets with the boys.  Ben threatens to sell Dennis out.  Dennis explains that El Azul used to be Elena's inside man who branched off.  And, with the pending elections, he is about to put her out of business with his connections.  Dennis explains that Elena's business empire is in trouble and she is desperate to get in on the young men's business and it would be a bad idea to turn their backs on the situation.  Chon stabs Dennis' hand and asks him to use his internal connections to get dirt on the cartel; he agrees.  Dennis gives the boys info on Alex and Elena.  They also learn that their Laguna-based drug businesses isn't as liquid as they originally thought.  Ben offers Elena $10M for O.  Elena demands $13M in two weeks.  While looking at a picture of Hamlet's Ophelia on the wall, O types a fake letter to her mother for Elena and asks Esteban to speak to someone higher up.  Ben and Chon, along with Chon's SEAL team hold up and kill some dealers, who turn out to work under Elena.  In the process, Ben ends up killing one of them, which unsettles him.  Alex debriefs Lado on what occurred, and from an IED that was left behind, he deduces that the boys must have been behind it.  Lado insists on being the one who tells Elena what happened.  

While Elena receives a foot massage and gets word of O's need to speak with her she comments, "My own daughter doesn't want to talk to me, but this one, this one does."  O asks for drugs.  When she shares her history, Elena responds, "And you're wondering why you're having concentration problems."  Ben and Chon's assault makes the news.  Ben is surprised when Lado and Alex share it was them who lost men and money.  They part and there's a cool shot of Lado inhaling in the park and then blowing smoke into O's mouth in her cell.  Ben demands to speak with O.  Lado tells O to not go above his head and gives her another drink.  Elena's phone-call interrupts her daughter's sexual activity (with Teddy Donovan from 90210) and informs her that she's coming for a visit.  "If the mountain doesn't come to Mohammad, Mohammad comes to California."  Lado prepares for departure, as everyone is leaving Tijuana.  Lado caps Esteban's ass for being too soft and they place O into a horse transport.  At Elena's estate on the Chuckwalla reservation, the matriarch expresses disappointment at her men's performances.  While Lado pulls at his mustache, she slaps him for losing the men and drugs and chews him out in English and Spanish.  It's one of Hayek's many good scenes, but my particular favorite.  

"There's something wrong with your love story, baby"

Spin educates Ben and Chon on Alex's connections to El Azul.  Lado meets with El Azul.  Ben informs Lado that Alex is a traitor.  Lado observes Ben's soft hands.  Elena has O over for dinner.  She interrupts her prattling, "Do Americans always talk this way?"  While Hayek enjoys her steak, O naively asks, "How did you get into the business?"  After giving her a short history, Elena utters the memorable line from the trailer, "There's something wrong with your love story, baby," with the intent of creating doubts in O that her men will rescue her.  Lado whips Alex in front of Ben and Chon and interrogates him over his documented involvement with El Azul.  Alex reveals that Magda is his daughter.  Lado threatens him until he admits he works for El Azul.  Elena shows O live video of Ben lighting Alex on fire at the demands of Lado (via Elena), who just doused him with gasoline.  Chon consoles Ben afterwards that violence is sometimes necessary when the greater good is at stake.  They decide to kidnap Magda (duh, we've been waiting for this) for trade.  

*** More Movie Spoilers ***

Lado visits Dennis in his home with landscapers, while he enjoys a sandwich with his bandaged hand.  Lado accuses Dennis of leaking information to Ben and Chon and reveals he is now working with El Azul, much to Dennis' surprise (I guess).  It turns out that not only does Dennis allow the boys to operate their business, but he was the one who introduced Elena's empire to the idea of taking over their company for them.  Lado wants $2M from Dennis.  Dennis warns Lado that working with El Azul might not be the best idea.  Dennis is shocked that Elena is in California and he going to figure out a way to bust her.  "That's why you need Dennis.  Think."  Lado: "Stop telling me to think."  Dennis ponders kidnapping Magda and splitting the profits.  At Laguna, in an aside moment, a rollerblader loses control and runs into the curb to stop herself.  Dennis meets with the boys and chastises them for the assault: "You had to pull your Iraq GI Jack shit."    Dennis asks for $3M for Magda's location.  Ben asks for Dennis to throw in his snitch.  The boys kidnap Magda and share the capture with Elena, who has a meltdown and tears off her wig.  On the eve of her release, Lado shows O footage of him raping her (another predictable, but negligible moment).  "You'll miss the best part," he tells her and, in an awesome moment, right before he "finishes" in the video, she spits in his face.  He rubs his hand in the projectile saliva and licks it off his hand in a celebratory fashion.  

Blake Lively conditions Benicio Del Toro's hair with spit

The tradeoff happens as planned at the Indian reservation.  "Just because we make up stories about ourselves doesn't mean we can escape what waits for us."  In a faux ending, after the exchange, Magda curses her mother and Chon arms O with a gun.  At the last moment, Elena turns around to ask "whose my rat?" (I thought Alex was, as far as the movie was concerned, but anyway) which leads to a shoot-out.  O pulls a gun on Elena and allows Magda to escape.  Most everyone dies, including snipers from both sides, and Chon ensures the death of him and his mates by injecting them with a substance, where they perish in a formation similar to how they lied after they completed their menage a trois in Laguna.  This ending sucked eggs.

*** More Movie Spoilers ***

"What really happened was more of a fuck-up than a shootout," Lively drolly explains.  Lado escapes and Dennis raids the proceedings.  He arrests Elena (who receives a 30-year sentence) and takes credit for "winning the drug war."  Lado partners with El Azul.  Dennis takes care of the boys, who get a slap on the wrist and vanish.  The boys flee the business and the country, as does O, who goes her separate way.  O muses over the definition of 'savage': "... regressed back to a primal state of being.  One day, maybe, we'll be back.  For now, we live like savages, beautiful savages."  I can't say that I liked this ending much better.  (aka please excuse my dust)  A cover of "Here Comes the Sun" by Yuna plays over the credits.  Notably, composer Adam Peters did the music for Rango.  

In the original poster, I snarked about the mask covering Aaron Johnson's
 beautiful face instead of concealing John Travolta's visage;
poor Blake Lively ... she is kind of growing on me