` ` Savages '' is a tricky , amoral , down - and - dirty action thriller . It 's about three marijuana dealers in Laguna Beach who run afoul of a Mexican drug cartel . Stone presents some bravura set pieces , from a pulse-quickening encounter with a highway cop to an incendiary multivehicle heist to every scene with Benicio Del Toro as a very scary sociopath . Although it 's action - packed , ` ` Savages '' does slide off the charts during the last half hour .
` ` Savages '' is a tricky , amoral , down - and - dirty action thriller . It 's about three marijuana dealers in Laguna Beach who run afoul of a Mexican drug cartel . Although it 's action - packed , ` ` Savages '' does slide off the charts during the last half hour .