This film image released by Universal Pictures shows Blake Lively, left, and Benicio Del Toro in a scene from “Savages.”Christy Lemire, The Associated Press
The sun, in its various hues and levels of intensity, plays an important role in Oliver Stone’s latest, “Savages.”
In the beginning of this tale of sex, drugs, money and power, it illuminates an idyllic decadence. It warms everything in a glow that suggests anything is possible. Eventually, especially in the film’s bloody desert climax, the sun bakes everyone mercilessly.
Sounds intense, and Stone’s film is indeed a lurid, pulpy film noir but with an erotic, even dreamlike California beach vibe. It’s an intriguing contrast, this mixture of a genre and an aesthetic that may not necessarily sound like they’d blend well together, but the result is the most explosively poppy film Stone has made in a long time.
“Savages” is darkly funny and stylishly violent but never reaches the overwhelming level of audiovisual assault of, say, “Natural Born Killers,” for example. Directing from a script he co-wrote with Shane Salerno and Don Winslow (based on Winslow’s novel), Stone draws us into this glamorous yet seedy world and draws strong performances from his eclectic ensemble cast.