At the start of Oliver Stone’s latest film, Savages, O, the character played by the lovely Blake Lively, informs the audience, “Just because I’m telling you this story, that doesn’t mean I’m alive at the end of it.”
And it was right around then that I decided the next time I see a movie or watch a TV show that Lively’s in, I’m going to watch it on mute.
In Savages, Lively’s O — short for Ophelia — is a free spirited California girl in love with two Laguna Beach marijuana dealers and best friends, Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch). This is no love triangle. Rather, the two men live together with and share O: They all go out together, and they both sleep with her (separately).
Ben and Chon are different types of guys: Ben is a peace-loving hippie businessman. Chon is an Afghanistan war vet (he enlisted to get closer to some primo marijuana) who … well, let’s just say he doesn’t follow the ways of the Buddha or Dalai Lama like Ben does. It’s O that is their common ground. Likewise, they fulfill different needs for her.
When O is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel (headed up by a character named Elena, played by Salma Hayek) that feels Ben and Chon are threatening the cartel’s business, the guys are forced to go above and beyond to get her back.
Damn. The sex must be really good (even better than it looks). Because while O is undeniably hot, the film doesn’t effectively demonstrate what these two guys see in her beyond that, if anything. Continue reading
Martin's Musings 