Release Date: 11/16/2011 (Limited)
Matt King (George Clooney) is a workaholic lawyer living in Hawaii. His lineage dates back to Hawaii’s colonial past, with 15,000 acres of untouched beachfront property entrusted to him and his cousins, a plot line that finally alludes to the meaning of the film’s title. As sole executor, Matt has final say on who the land is sold to, and if its sold at all. But nobody truly worries more about what his ancestors would choose, other than Matt. At the same time, Matt’s life hits rock bottom. He’s suddenly thrown into his own life after his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) falls into a coma following a freak boating accident. Matt is stunned, discovering that he is merely a spectator in his own life story. A man trapped in paradise. “Paradise can go fuck itself.”
As Elizabeth lies comatose, Matt has to step up and become the parent he was always too busy to be. By default, he gets promoted from understudy and becomes primary caretaker of his two bratty daughters: Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller). Scottie, the youngest, is having a difficult time dealing with her mother’s accident and has been acting out in class, and mouthing off to pretty much everybody she sees. The rebellious boarding school brat, Alex, is off on another island experimenting with drugs and alcohol. Matt fetches Alex, brings her home and tries to convince her to behave as he breaks some pretty awful news to friends and family. But Alex has some bad news of her own. In a great scene between Woodley and Clooney, Alex breaks the news that her mother was cheating on him. He had no idea. Matt wants to know who the guy is. He wants to confront him. He wants closure. And he needs Alex’s help to do it.
The Descendants would be depressing if it weren’t for director Alexander Payne. People familiar with Payne’s work would agree that tragedy usually brings out the most absurd in him. Like Matt’s outrageously awkward flip-flopping dash to a neighbors house only to interrogate them on what they knew of Elizabeth cheating on him. Indeed, Payne’s characters always seem to run the gauntlet of emotions. And usually, they’re their own worst enemy. Like lost souls wondering through life in a sleepwalking daze. Stuck in reverse while pathetically grinding their emotional gears. Blinded by their imperfections until reality slaps them in the face. But for every moment of emotional angst, Payne, and fellow co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, poetically counter with accidental wit. Leaving you with just a curious smirk, or the occasional chuckle.
The performances in The Descendants are, across the board, outstanding. For the first time in his career, George Clooney’s charm and charisma are buried far beneath the heavy burden of his character. In what is sure to earn the actor plenty of plunder – and probably his second golden statue, Clooney gives what could possibly be the most emotionally raw performance of his career. Displaying more range than ever before, leaving barely a shred of the self-confidence we’re used to seeing. A performance filled with moments of startling tenderness and inner turmoil
The supporting cast is just as terrific. Namely, Robert Forster and Shailene Woodley. Forster plays the volatile retiree whose daughter lays comatose and on the verge of death. Forster was previously been nominated for his role in Quentin Tarantino’s Jackie Brown. Despite her rude bravado, Woodley portrays her role beautifully. She is far from being branded as a newcomer, but will probably earn her first nomination as well. Although, none of us should be surprised. Actors who have the career changing fortune of acting beside George Clooney, often find themselves in the hunt for Oscars. Just ask David Stratherin, Tilda Swinton, Tom Wilkinson, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.
The Descendants is a tragedy infused with comedy and is filled with moments of beautiful unseen cinema. A family backstory that we’re not quite privy to; but one we’re all familiar with. The imperfections of family dynamics and dealing with loss. Individuals in free-fall; dangerously spiraling out of control. We all know from whom we descend; our parents and grandparents. However, we’re always able to construct our own runways that make us who we are, not who we come from. In a place where a word can mean hello and goodbye, The Descendants leaves us considering the things we leave behind and the things we choose to take with us. It is, at times, amusing, and absorbing but it never strays too far from the somber and profound.
The Descendants is emotionally epic, but, at times, a little too heavy.
IMDb: 8.1/10
Rottentomatoes: 90%
Movie Wiseguys: 7.5/10