Savage Grace

The film is different. It does stand out amongst hundreds of "seen-this-before" flicks.

Juliane Moore is great, of course.

One of her best performances, actually.

The film has the atmosphere that is hard to find these days; moves kind of slowly but the tension continually grows so you know something (bad) is going to happen eventually although you have no idea what.

Cannot understand certain opinions here which, I have a feeling, have been written without even watching the film or, simply, for some unknown reasons, out of spite.

See it. It is really good.

None of these rich, idle people induce much empathy. Self-absorbed and shallow, the father Brooks (Stephen Dillane), the son Antony (Eddie Redmayne), and the mother Barbara (Julianne Moore) go about their lives with nary a care in the world. Yet, they manage to inflict unhappiness on each other in ways that test the limits of family love.

Complex human relationships with a tendency toward destructive behavior form the premise of "Savage Grace", a true-life story of the Baekeland family, heir to the Bakelite plastic fortune. The film's plot begins in 1946 when Antony is a baby. The plot ends with the shocking climax, in 1972.

Curiously aloof and standoffish, the film suffers from an unfortunate structure. Snippets of their family life allow us to peek in at odd moments between 1946 and 1972. We see them as they jet-set their way through Spain, Italy, and France, and hobnob with the rich and famous. At one point, Barbara, a socialite and former model, concedes a sense of apathy and boredom. "To say that one is tired of Paris is in fact to say that one is tired of life".

But because the plot spans 26 years, viewers must fill in the story gaps as best they can. Though I'm not one for lots of exposition, some added dialogue could have helped the narrative to flow better. As is, the story comes across as disjointed and at times confusing. Viewers must exercise patience to see where this slow, meandering story is leading.

The film's technical elements, including acting, are fine. The main problem is the script, and in particular the plot structure. Still, the film instructs us on how life can disintegrate for people with too much time on their hands and no sense of responsibility. That money can't buy happiness may be a cliché, but this story affirms it, at least for one very dysfunctional family that thought that it could.

Having seen quite a few films produced by Christine Vachon, I recognised a similar aesthetic in this film. Vachon's films often portray unconventional sexuality or other challenging social themes, but in a stylised way that is more accessible to wider audiences than grittier art-house films. This film would make a terrific companion piece to Christophe Honoré's Ma mère, as it tackles similarly challenging themes, though it is based on a true story and is much more digestible for audiences. The parallels between these stories are remarkable.

Julianne Moore is an actress I admire and takes top billing. Her performance was as good as usual, portraying Barbara Daly Baekeland, wife of the Bakelite heir. Eddie Redmayne's portrayal of her homosexual son was for me the stand-out performance. The film is set in various countries - the US, France, Spain and England - and the visuals are excellent. It takes a while to get a handle on where the film wants to take us, but it culminates in a chilling end. Worth seeing for the brave risks it takes and succeeds in delivering.

The Melbourne International Film Festival screening I attended was introduced by the director, Tom Kalin.

The idle rich are boring, which is why the movie is paced so slowly. The subject matter, based on truth is shocking because it is real and sick. You can see where this is going early on, but somehow, it's like a car accident. You don't want to watch but you do? Those of us who don't have money would like to think money cures problems, but as this material shows, if you're sick, you're sick. I thought the actors did a good job portraying their characters. When these things happen to ordinary people, they're statistics. When they happen to rich people, they become the material for books and movies.

Very dark subject matter, played out very frankly, which makes this all the more disturbing.

This film is about a rich but dysfunctional family trying to hang on to each other, ultimately destroying everyone's happiness.

I saw this film only because Julianne Moore is in it. Moore is a fine actress who starred in a lot of high quality films. I was hoping "Savage Grace" would be as good as her other films, but I was disappointed.

I find the story slow and poorly developed. Mr & Mrs Baekeland's poor relationship is satisfactorily portrayed, but from this point onwards the film goes downhill. Things happen without buildup and are poorly explained. The final ending is simply ridiculous, as the unexpected twist on Tony's mental state feels very contrived and unconvincing.

"Savage Grace" could have been a thought provoking and engaging drama. Instead, it fails to be engaging, and the characters not sympathetic. In my opinion, the story unfolds provocatively just for the sake of being provocative.