Plot
Pot growers Ben and Chon face off against the Mexican drug cartel who kidnapped their shared girlfriend.
Release Year: 2012
Rating: 6.5/10 (591 voted)
Critic's Score: 62/100
Director:
Oliver Stone
Stars: Aaron Johnson, Taylor Kitsch, Blake Lively
Storyline Entrepreneurs Ben, a peaceful and charitable marijuana producer, and friend Chon, a former Navy SEAL, run a lucrative, homegrown industry - raising some of the best weed ever developed. They also share a one-of-a-kind love with Ophelia. Life is idyllic in their Southern California town... until the Mexican Baja Cartel decides to move in and demands that the trio partners with them. When the merciless head of the BC, Elena and her enforcer, Lado, underestimate the unbreakable bond of the three friends, Ben and Chon - with the reluctant assistance of a dirty DEA agent - wage a seemingly unwinnable war against the cartel. And so begins a series of increasingly vicious ploys and maneuvers in a high stakes, savage battle of wills.
Writers: Shane Salerno, Don Winslow
Cast: Blake Lively
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O
Taylor Kitsch
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Chon
Aaron Johnson
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Ben
Jana Banker
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Volleyball Girl
Candra Docherty
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Grow House Girl
Patrick Fourmy
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Marijuana Distributor
Gary Stretch
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Badass Biker
Benicio Del Toro
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Lado
Diego Cataño
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Esteban
Shea Whigham
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Chad
Karishma Ahluwalia
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Chad's Girlfriend
Joaquín Cosio
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El Azul
John Travolta
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Dennis
Jonathan Carr
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Valet
Demián Bichir
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Alex
Trivia: Oliver Stone instructed Blake Lively to take firearm training for her role. Despite not being experienced at the gun range, she hit center mass in her first three shots.
Quotes: Ben:
This is the best cannabis in the world.
User Review
Oliver Stone the way we love
Rating: 10/10
"Savages" is Oliver Stone the way we like him - gritty, sexy, and
oh-so-violent. This film starts as a simple story of a laid-back crew
of Southern Californian pot dealers, but develops into and all out
warfare between them and notoriously ruthless Mexican drug cartels,
fronted by a very mean Selma Hayek. This is a Hayek we have not seen
before - so gritty and dirty, yet so beautiful and elegant. And who is
Hayek's backup - the dirtier than ever Benicio del Toro - in a
magnificent performance. Yet the gang still has their hopes with John
Travolta, and he steals the show. Drama in every scene, nothing is
predictable, a statement from Stone on living in Southern California,
which could be anywhere, in this day and age. We are all subject to the
whims of the world, as Stone proves, we are perhaps too connected, too
much. The world is not a large place anymore, but a terrifyingly small
area, where unscrupulous people create havoc. A great storyline, great
acting, depth, drama - all top of the line. Do see this one, it is
fresh and new, exciting, and will leave you breathless. The 'ultra-
violence' of the Droogies in "Clockwork Orange" have nothing on Stone's
vision of violence in this masterpiece.
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