And yet no cute kid named Fred: "The Savages"

This was the movie I would have seen at the art-house theater where "There Will Be Blood" crapped out 10 minutes before the end. The plan was to catch this, then the end of "Blood" so I could get my milkshake and whack-a-mole fix. Alas, it was not to be, and "The Savages" ended up as part of our 2008 Oscars parade from Netflix.

Our story: A grumpy old man in Arizona is left alone when his girlfriend -- who owns the house where they lived -- dies. So it's up to the guy's two adult children, each of whom has his/her own issues, to take care of him. And that's about it. Yes, this is one of those "thoughtful" movies with a lot of quiet parts, then talky parts, then quiet parts. And then the dinosaurs attack! RAWRRRRRR!!!

Need more proof that this is a "serious" movie? Consider the casting: none other than Laura Linney as the daughter and Philip Seymour Hoffman as her brother. That's five Oscar noms between them (counting one Linney got here). And guess what? They're good. I mean, these are Capital-A Actors, after all. Each strikes the right note in his/her respective role -- Hoffman as the stuffy professor, Linney as the insecure would-be nurturer. Philip Bosco also is solid as dear old dad, with bonus points for not being just a one-note lout.

So what's the problem? Nothing big. Overall, "The Savages" is a good movie. It's just not terribly unique. While I can't say I've seen this exact plot before, some of it seemed familiar. First and foremost, as good as Linney is, she's really just adapting her "You Can Count on Me" schtick here. You know, the not-all-together woman who still cares about her family and means well overall.

Hoffman is a little harder to place, but I didn't get the sense he was really stretching his wings. I'd say it was a little bit "Magnolia," a little bit "Owning Mahowny." Again, he's good; the guy will always be worth the ticket price -- primetime, not matinee! I just expected more. What can I say? "Along Came Polly" may have ruined every other performance for me. ("Raindrops!")

Still, "The Savages" is perfectly fine. You can't help but wonder how these kids are going to handle dad, each other and themselves, and there are some quirky moments along the way. Just not sure there was a big emotional kick, especially since it was never clear -- beyond Linney's play at the end of the movie -- how their dad ruined their lives (or something like that). The again, maybe I was distracted by the T-Rex. It looked so real!