Savages (2012) - Yeah, I Watched It

Two successful independent marijuana farmers, an ex-Navy Seal Chon and a planet saving, modern day hippie Ben and their shared girlfriend O (Blake Lively) are approached by a Mexican drug cartel to join their operation by choice or by force.

Before Oliver Stone decides to make his next overly embellished true events film which my money is going to be about the Penn State child molestation scandal where Oliver Stone will change Joe Paterno’s character from a head coach that turned a blind eye to a heinous crime into a kidnapping, drug addicting kingpin of the pedophiliac sex trade, he decided to make a “movie.”

Based on Don Winslow’s novel of the same name, who also co-wrote the movie, Stone tackles the subject of the ultra profitable market of the California triangle’s weed industry. It’s a fast paced film with a gritty look that serves the story and violence very well. Selma Hayek is excellent (and ridiculously gorgeous) as the ruthless queenpin/heart broken mother Elena Sanchez. Benicio Del Toro turns in another fantastic performance as her blood thirsty, heartless right hand man Lado. John Travolta plays Dennis a DEA agent who watches Chon’s and Ben’s backs for a percentage of their profits, but in reality is out for himself. He and Del Toro share a hilarious, nearly show stealing scene close to the climax of the movie.

Everyone’s acting was commendable, but it was the three main characters that I took issues with. Maybe because I’m always anxious to slap a hippy and I can’t stand spoiled airheads. But Ben was cool. However, you would have to be on drugs to go through the hell that Ben and Chon endure just to get some dingbat whom the two best friends apparently can’t live without. During the entire movie I just wanted Lado to cut the idiot little princess’ head off or for Ben and Chon to take a break from the weed, maybe come to their senses and leave the skank behind, but then there wouldn’t be much of a story.

Savages is a good movie (I’m actually curious about the novel) that digs into two of America’s greatly publicized issues. I’m glad that it shows how sinister the Mexican drug cartels can be because they are no longer looking across the border, they are here  in the United States; not just the border towns, they are everywhere legally and illegally, and we as a nation have much more disturbing issues such as these cartels to deal with than marijuana, gay rights, and other non-sensical issues that all politicians (I won’t say corrupt politicians because that would be redundant; they’re ALL corrupt) use to distract the public, and which the majority of the public allows because of ignorance, stubbornness, or just plain stupidity.