Savage Salvation

Wash Me in the River_360P

Mike Church (Robert De Niro) is the local Sheriff. Drug addicted couple, Ruby Red (Willa Fitzgerald) and Shelby John (Jack Huston), work hard to get clean. Their drug dealer refuses to let them go. Ruby dies in an overdose and Shelby seeks revenge. First, he kills the dealer and then he works his way up the food chain to Peter (John Malkovich). I kept thinking what these great actors are doing here. During the whole movie, I wanted to pull De Niro out of there for his sake. Someone needs to save him. Randall Emmett seems to be a producer trying his hand at directing. It's not his best skill set. The filmmaking is poor. It's a derivative thriller that can't get to a competent level.

"Midnight in the Switchgrass" director Randal Emmett's sappy, arthouse revenge thriller "Savage Salvation" lives up to its ferocious title. After a riveting opening gambit where a man with his hair done up in corn rows is viciously crucified in his own house to his living room wall in the traditional posture of Jesus Christ, Emmett and "Before I'm Gone" scenarists Adam Taylor Barker and "Brawler" scribe Chris Sivertson belabor the romance between our protagonist Shelby John (Jack Huston of "House of Gucci") and his fiancée Ruby Red (Willa Fitzgerald of "The Goldfinch") during the first hour before she succumbs to heroin laced with fentanyl that kills her. Earlier, Ruby and Shelby had both gone 'cold turkey' to end their addiction and exchange marital vows. Ruby sought to revive her personal relationship with the Lord, but she couldn't kick the habit. Naturally, she never breathed a word of her relapse to her future husband. Stunned by this revelation when he finds her stone-cold dead on the front porch of their house, Shelby dresses her in her wedding gown and carries her in his loving arms to the river where their minister is baptizing other church members. The remainder of "Savage Salvation" sends Shelby on a mission of vengeance. He tracks down everybody who had anything to do with the narcotics that killed Ruby. You'll applaud Shelby's fearless attack on drug dealers that ensues. He served in the military and knows his business. The final 30 minutes amounts to a catharsis with Shelby going savage on the drug dealers. Oscar winner Robert De Niro makes the most of a supporting role as a world-weary lawman who suffers from the same paranoia that afflicted Tommy Lee Jones in "No Country for Old Men." "Siberia" lenser Eric Koretz captures each shot and scene from the best angles. Although rather contrived and stereotypical, "Savage Salvation" delivers in terms of strong performances, good cinematography, and some butt whooping violence.

As I sat down to watch the 2022 action thriller "Savage Salvation", I must admit that I was harboring some expectations from it, as it had the likes of Robert De Niro and John Malkovich on the cast list. However, I had never actually heard about the movie prior to watching it, so I didn't really know what to expect here. Writers Adam Taylor Barker and Chris Sivertson did put together an enjoyable script and storyline for the movie. Sure, this wasn't exactly a movie that revolutionized the action thriller genre, but I will say that I enjoyed the story, because it was nicely written and proved entertaining. Sure, it was somewhat generic, even for an action thriller, but it still played out nicely enough to entertain me. It was initially the cast ensemble that lured into watching "Savage Salvation", and they did indeed have a good cast ensemble. Leading actor Jack Huston carried the movie quite well, though I have to say that I am not really familiar with him prior to watching him in this movie, but he definitely performed well and was nicely cast for the role. The movie also had a good performance from Willa Fitzgerald, along with Robert De Niro and John Malkovich, of course. I did enjoy the storyline, as I mentioned earlier, and the twist to the plot was actually quite nice. That was a nice touch from the writers, and I didn't see that coming. So thumbs up on that accomplishment. While "Savage Salvation" proved enjoyable and entertaining, then it is hardly a movie that warrants more than a single viewing, simply because the storyline is a bit too generic and doesn't really have the contents to support more than just a single viewing. However, if you enjoy action thrillers, then "Savage Salvation" is well-worth checking out. My rating of director Randall Emmett's 2022 movie "Savage Salvation" lands on a six out of ten stars.

At first watching Savage salvation it seems like a low budget has a chance to be good movie but probably isn't by the quality and after you see the acting totally makes up for the quality and the quality actually isn't that bad towards the middle and end it starts off as a love story / drug movie slash drama and then all of a sudden it takes a turn without spoiling it and becomes one of the really greatest acting movies I've seen in a while without having to have CGI or any superheroes it's just a really well acted well put together story about revenge love drugs shooting sadness Christianity basically every part of life all strung into one story and I ended up feeling that this movie really hit home and I absolutely loved it.

What sets this film apart from others in the genre is the time spent developing the main characters (Shelby John and Ruby Red). The audience goes through their addiction and recovery struggles with them and grows to genuinely care what happens to them. Most films of this genre spend no more than 10 minutes setting up the story, then tragedy strikes and the protagonist goes into vengeance mode. Not here...here we spend the entire first act (30-40 minutes) with Shelby John and Ruby Red, getting to know them and like them. The audience feels for them and is rooting for them to be happy....so when tragedy strikes, it hurts. It's not a a perfect movie, however, I think it was very well done, had a great cast and was a moving story.

Yes, Randall Emmett has produced a ton of flops, but also a few legendary films (Rambo, Heist, Boss Level, etc), and his only two prior writing efforts (Fortress and Fortress: Sniper's Eye) were both flops big-time, but his directorial debut prior to this film (Midnight in the Switchgrass) was actually impressive imo. In this film, his directorial rookie mistakes were very evident. Emmett has a slew of great casting talent available to him in many of his films (he can be my wingman bar-hopping L. A. celebrity hot-spots anytime), and you can't blame De Niro or Malkovich for being in this film. They clearly did their jobs well (albeit their talents not showcased or required for their basic character's roles), but more importantly, they convinced us to watch this film because of their presence. Well played Mr. Emmett, well played. The missed opportunity here was that although Emmett can clearly assemble great cast, he seems to have a problem putting together a proper film crew. In his second directorial credit, this film had flaws - more than Midnight in the Switchgrass, and the majorly flawed jointly-written screenplay made Emmett's directorial rookie mistakes stand out more. The story was nothing revolutionary for this genre, but it still drew me in mainly because of Fitzgerald's and Huston's great chemistry and decent performances, although with better cast directing, they (and all other cast) could've easily elevated their performances. There were many questionable scenes (e.g. Who-why were the photos De Niro's character kept looking at on his desk, the kid in the middle of the road, etc) that needed more clarity, or just didn't need to be in the film. Many scenes felt random and switched in or out too abruptly - maybe bad editing and/or directing. There were many plot and technical issues. The pacing was horrible; the 101 min runtime felt dragged out endlessly, and the entire first half of the film could've been shown in 15-20 mins instead of taking almost an hour for the film's set up. The last act was the best, with better pacing, action and some nice twists that elevated the mostly boring first two acts. It actually answered my question "why is Malkovich even in this film", when he did what he does best, bring out his characters true identity. In the hands of better filmmakers, this could've easily been a better film, and although not the greatest A-list headliner film, it's certainly a worthy one-time watch, flaws and all.

I'll run the risk of perhaps sounding negative to open my review. But trust me when I tell you the negatives I have are very, very miniscule for this movie. Once again I am pleased to give reasons for my one man crusade against "MOVIE TRAILERS" and even more so "MOVIE SYNOPSIS'" This movie is a prime example... I truly believe that audience members are given far too much information in a typical synopsis. Its almost a waste of time watching a movie if you know the important details about the plot. I didnt read anything or hear anyting about it until after watching every frame of it I was completely taken in from the opening sequence onward and I know why. I know people who are what these characters were. I know the feel of small town America and how certain influences are prevalent there. I know how vulnerable human beings can be and I also know how strong and resilient they can be when placed in certain situations. This story exhibited all of this. But I have to say that I was most impressed by how a guy like Robert Deniro attached himself to this movie. I haven't seen every movie he's starred in. But this was a far cry from anything I have seen him in and it was nothing short of fantastic. The same goes for John Malchovic. I mean everything about the movie was very real. From the setting to the star actors to the guy playing the pawn shop owner. Now I must admit that I have never had close relations with people like Coyote and Darrius. But Ive known more than my share of Elvis' or at least guys of his level on the food chain. I really cant say much more without having to hit the SPOILER button and I dont want to do that.

"If that wasn't god pushing me to do his business I don't know what was" Savage Salvation is directed by Randall Emmett and stars Jack Huston, Willa Fitzgerald, Robert De Niro and John Malkovich. The latest geezer teaser arrives, directed by the king of the geezer teasers himself Randall Emmett. Have you ever seen a low quality movie in the clearance section of your local Target etc with a big name attached? Like Bruce Willis, Mel Gibson, Robert De Niro and John Travolta for example. Chances are this Randall Emmett guy is a producer on it. Everyone should know the process on how these movies get made. You attach an aging older male action star like listed above, then you cast a B list younger male actor as the true lead of the movie. And then fill out the rest of the cast usually with a bunch of D list actors no one has ever heard of before. It's provided early retirement and a nice paycheck for most of these aging stars and Savage Salvation is no different. So if you couldn't tell by now Savage Salvation is not a good movie. The best part of this movie is easily Jack Huston and the best parts of this movie are when he's involved in a Vigilante Justice killing spree. Besides that there's not much else here to recommend. The story is very weak and not very compelling. The movie tries to craft a message on drug use I guess? However it wasn't done well at all. Robert De Niro and John Malkovich are obviously just here for a paycheck. (Thank god De Niro has Killers Of The Flower Moon on the horizon) But yeah besides Jack Huston nothing about this movie is good. Once you've seen one of these geezer teaser movies you've really seen them all. In general Savage Salvation is a mess that doesn't know what it wants to be. A faith pandering movie, a message about drug use and a vigilante action thriller are all thrown in the blender here with incredibly weak results.

I don't get all the bad reviews! I'm sure the same people trashing it are the same who think Marvel/stupid comic book movies are good. I just finished Savage Salvation and I've seen way way worse, I'll even say I likes this movie, yea maybe the music was a little too loud and constant but other than that I've got no complaints. Robert DeNiro was never a good leading actor but always great at supporting so he's right at home here. Good story that starts slow and ramps up the plot and revenge. Couldn't ask for a better movie to watch on a Sunday morning. The people that are trashing this are just simple minded.