SAVAGES comes to DVD

SAVAGES

Jeri Jacquin, Movie Maven

Out on DVD this week from director Oliver Stone, Relativity Media and Universal Pictures comes an experience in the darker side of life with SAVAGES.

This film tells the story of Chon (Taylor Kitsch), Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and O (Blake Lively). Three very free spirits living life on the edge in everything they do, including a triangle of love between them

Living the good life in Laguna Beach, the business minded boys raise and sell marijuana that is considered some of the best ever made. This comes to the attention of Elena (Salma Hayek), the head of the Mexican drug cartel she inherited. With the help of Lado (Benicio Del Toro), a maniac of a whole other kind, she wants what the boys are growing.

When Chon and Ben turn her down things get ugly. Elena kidnaps O and the game of cat and mouse is on. Bringing in the two-faced DEA agent Dennis (John Travolta), the two men learn that if they are to get O back – the game will have to get twisted.

FINAL WORD: Kitsch and Johnson are the yin and yang of good-bad guys. Kitsch is always on high alert with his military training and “take no crap” attitude. Johnson is the more zen good-bad guy who tries to find a way out of anything violent. Together they make a pair to be reckoned with, especially with the kidnapping of O.

Lively gets the raw end of the deal in this film! Dealing with the cartel and having the one person she should hate explain how the triangle affair is really going to affect O was a scene worth seeing twice! Honestly, most women would agree as well!

Del Toro once again does what he is famous for – being such a creepy bad guy. There is nothing about this character that is redeeming what so ever but that makes sense when you are the vicious dog of a drug dealer!

Travolta also gets a chance to be sleazy. I think he’s beginning to enjoy the freedom as an actor of getting dirty in a role. His idea of helping is anything that’s good for Dennis!

Hayek is amazing as Elena! She comes with such hard edges that are packaged in Versace and Prada! Hanging on to an empire that is dragging her down, Hayek digs her heels in deeper to hang on to it all.

Other cast includes: Diego Catano as Esteban, Shea Whigham as Chad, Joaquin Cosio as El Azul, and Demian Bichir as Alex.

TUBS OF POPCORN: I give SAVAGES three tubs of popcorn out of five. This is actually a very detailed film in that you blink and something gets missed. The cast also meshes so well together and with the craziness of Travolta mixed with the creepiness of Del Toro I was hooked immediately. Based on Don Winslow’s 2010 novel SAVAGES, this film is intense and violent.

This combo pack allows viewers to see deleted scenes, a behind-the-scenes featurette, a feature commentary by Oliver Stone and an UltraViolet/Digital Copy. Universal Studios Home Entertainment is celebrating 100 years of keeping unforgettable films in the hands of audiences. To find more of their outstanding films go to www.universalstudios.com!

In the end – things are about to get savage!