Stone Cold

   Oliver Stone's newly out movie Savages was somewhat comical, hopefully he was aiming at that trait for some of the scenes. The ending especially called for a huff of repressed laughter. The first ending would have been satisfactory, it had a Romeo and Juliet feel to it, but the second ending was almost too much of a happily ever-after for such a supposedly cruel and passionate movie. The gore was reminiscent of Man on Fire, the flashes of black of white scenes recalled Kill Bill, and the harmonious love triangle is not a new idea to the silver screen. There's less originality in this movie than the makers would have the audience believe. Even the movie poster, vertical title with a different scene or character horizontally placed at each letter, has been seen before for the movie Havoc.
   There was a try at some deeper meaning in the movie, but it was lost in Blake Lively's voice-over narration and the multiple Starbucks product placements. Whoever wrote the line "war-gasm" for Lively to say, seriously should have reconsidered. The storyline had so much potential. Had the script been tweaked just a bit and had a more solid tone I truly believe Savages could have had a fighting chance. Seeing as it didn't though, better luck next time.