We saw a shit-ton of movies this weekend including “American Teen,” “Anvil! The Story of Anvil,” and gulp, “Sex And The City” (big mistake, for our insta-reviews you can check always check our Twitter page), but the most disappointing one was easily “Savage Grace.”
Who doesn’t love Julianne Moore and relative newcomer Eddie Redmayne was an incredible discovery and one to watch for the future, but this true story about wealthy narcissistic social climber Barbara Daly Baekeland fell flat in the end.
It took director Tom Kalin, 15 years for the follow-up to his so-called “New Queer cinema” touchstone, “Swoon,” and one might ask and it amounted to just this? Granted, “Savage Grace” wasn’t terrible by any means, but rather dull after awhile.
Moore plays Baekland the class-jumping socialiate, the lithe Redmayne portrays her oedipal son and the film spans four decades of the families life from semi-blissful affluence to slow descent into tragedy. If the film did two positive things, it reminded us just how drop dead gorgeous, “Talk To Her” actress Elena Anaya is [ed. man, she was stunning] and it did introduce us to the auspicious Redmayne, but overall it felt confused, full of stilted voiceover and monotone emotional direction. It basically amounted to a tedious travelogue of exotic locations with, oh yeah, some crazy family psychodrama on the side (The Times said, Savage Grace doesn’t seem quite sure of how to communicate its own fascination with such doings, whether to convey shock, envy, pity or bemusement.”). That’s not much of a review, but all we can muster, frankly. If one does decide to take the plunge, note that you can buy this film – like many IFC films – for $5.99 on OnDemand which we suppose is better than paying $11 in a theater.
The official synopsis:
SAVAGE GRACE, based on the award winning book, tells the incredible true story of Barbara Daly, who married above her class to Brooks Baekeland, the dashing heir to the Bakelite plastics fortune. Beautiful, red-headed and charismatic, Barbara is still no match for her well-bred husband. The birth of the couple’s only child, Tony, rocks the uneasy balance in this marriage of extremes. Tony is a failure in his father’s eyes. As he matures and becomes increasingly close to his lonely mother, the seeds for a tragedy of spectacular decadence are sown. Spanning 1946 to 1972, the film unfolds in six acts. The Baekelands’ pursuit of social distinction and the glittering ‘good life’ propels them across the globe. We follow their heady rise and tragic fall against the backdrop of New York, Paris, Cadaques, Mallorca and London.
Trailer: “Savage Grace”
