Wednesday, October 31--------This weekend, the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival is presenting the Southeast Premiere of THE SAVAGES, a film that is sure to appear on the radar of the end-of-year awards season. Directed by Tamara Jenkins, the writer/director of the indie hit SLUMS OF BEVERLY HILLS (1999), the family drama had its world premiere at last year's Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award for Jenkins' sensitive and sometimes hilarious script.

The cast is stellar......Philip Seymour Hoffman (Oscar winner for CAPOTE) teams with Laura Linney (Oscar nominee, KINSEY and YOU CAN COUNT ON ME) to play two middle-aged siblings who must face the fact that their once imperious father (played by Broadway veteran Phillip Bosco) needs their personal care and attention as he drifts into senility and old age. The drama plays out a scenario that is happening to the "boomer generation", where children must become caretakers of their aging parents, and parents assume the role of helpfless children as they confront a breakdown of physical and mental abilities. The film's superb acting and insightful script will be remembered come awards season, with Hoffman especially memorable in a sad sack role that could not be further from his turn as the slick (if desperate) con artist in Sidney Lumet's BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD, which opened nationwide this week.

This story should be especially poignant for South Florida audiences, with its disproportionate population of seniors who have retired to the Sunshine State for their remaining golden years. The film screens on Friday and Saturday. To view a full list of films and events coming up this weekend at the Festival, log on to the Festival website: www.fliff.com. To view the trailer of THE SAVAGES, log on to: http://pro.imdb.com/title/tt0775529/trailers-screenplay-E32149-314

Sandy Mandelberger, Fort Lauderdale FF Dailies Editor