Dad Savage
Dir: Betsan Morris Evans
1998
****
Steve Williams’ 1998 crime thriller came and went without much fanfare, which is strange, as the 1990s was an important decade for British film and it felt like one of the best examples was completely overlooked. 1998 really wasn’t a bad year for British film either – with Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, My Name is Joe, Elizabeth, Gods and Monsters, Hideous Kinky and The General really showcasing well established and brand new talent. Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels did take most of the limelight but after that it was Sliding Doors and Still Crazy that everyone was talking about, films that are now long forgotten and not that great in the first place. Dad Savage was a unique and gripping little thriller that had a great idea, featured brilliant performances and had a cracking script. To this day ex-black cab driver Steve Williams still only has one credit to his name, I don’t know who he is, but I wonder whether we’d have seen more great films from him, had the film received the credit it truly deserved. In all honesty I think film media was poor in the 90s and audiences just couldn’t seem to look past the fact that Patrick Stewart was playing a character that was nothing like Star Trek’s Captain Jean-Luc Picard. I think he did suffer from typecast, not by film makers, but by the great viewing public. I also wonder whether the same sort of thing can be said for Kevin McKidd after he appeared in Transpotting. Maybe it was the idea of an English cowboy living in East-Anglia that people had a problem with or maybe it just didn’t get the circulation it deserved, either way, I’m still puzzled by how little is written about it. It has a hardcore following but we are few. Personally I think all involved are at the top of their collective game and I don’t know what was best, the incredible introductory scene or the intense conclusion. Dad Savage is a wealthy and successful tulip grower from East-Anglia. He’s the unofficial head of his town, the godfather of the local crime circuit. The film begins with a dramatic slow-motion car crash, as Dad Savage drives into a house and ends up in the basement. Someone in the house killed his son and protégé and Dad Savage (and his car obviously) aren’t leaving until he finds out who. His son Sav (played by Jake Wood) had recommended his two friends Vic and Bob (no, not them) to help out with the business but when they get greedy and decide to steal from the family, the situation goes from bad to worse. Dad Savage (Patrick Stewart) plays a guy many of us may know. All little towns have a don like him and here they have given him a slight cow boy twist. The truth is Dad Savage is nothing like a cow boy – I believe people have misunderstood this and have turned away because of it – but the film is very much like a western. It’s a neo-western, set in East-Anglia but a million times better than it sounds. It’s a great whodunit also, with an intense edge to it. It’ll keep you guessing until the end if you can bare the suspense, Patrick Stewart is terrifying but also gains the audience’s sympathy at the same time. Betsan Morris Evans’ direction is perfect, he’s known better as a television director but after 1995’s brilliant Band of Gold I’m surprised he hasn’t taken Hollywood by storm by now, although I’m also glad he hasn’t. A modern British classic that I hope will gain the long over-due respect it deserves.