Country:
USA
Recognizable Faces:
George Clooney
Shailene Woodley
Nick Krause
Beau Bridges
Robert Forster
Directed By:
Alexandre Payne
I'm always worried about movies where George Clooney tries to play something else than George Clooney. He trademarked his swagger so well, it's hard to begrudge him for it, but he came to suffer from what I call the Harrison Ford syndrome. His aura is so strong, whenever he plays in something, you always see George Clooney playing a character and not his character himself. But I was wrong to worry about THE DESCENDANTS. Clooney's star power is almost evenly matched by the strength of Matthew King (the character he's playing) and the joint storytelling effort of Kaui Hart Hemmings, Alexander Payne and the team of screenwriters make this movie come to life. It was kind of a Friday evening surprise viewing, but I walked out of THE DESCENDANTS more than happy. I was charmed.
The heir of a Hawaiian royal legacy Matt King (Clooney) is looking to sell the last few acres of land his family owned, because the trust on the land expires in seven years*. Caught in all the paperwork, life hits Matt in the face when his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) has a terrible jet ski accident and falls in a coma. Very competent as his work, Matt is a lot less at family life. His daughters don't trust him, but they need parental guidance in this troubled period of their lives. Matt also realizes he needs them, because with no wife to come back to, he realizes that it's really lonely of top of the tower of success. Matt and especially his daughter Alexandra (the older one, played by the very talented Shailene Woodley) learn to know and to trust each other as their worlds fall apart.
The first thing I thought when I walked out of the theater, was that it reminded me of Jonathan Franzen's THE CORRECTIONS a lot. It's not as dark and sure is a hell lot shorter, but basically it's the same type of story. A family that needs the best out of each other in tough times. Those readers who are always on the fence about reading Franzen, if you want a Franzen-lite experience, THE DESCENDANTS is a very good option. While George Clooney was nothing short of great, I have to say his best moments were when he teamed up with Nick Krause, who played Sid, the nit-wit would be boyfriend of Alexandra. They are hilarious together, managing their awkward relationship. Whenever Nick Krause was on the screen, I started chuckling. The kid is very talented at playing idiots.
While it's more of a stunt in cinematography and a love song to Hawaii, THE DESCENDANTS works you up on a technical level also. It has what ninety percent of Hollywood movies don't have. A pace. A smooth pace just like the calm waters of Hawaii. Through patient editing (Payne's scenes are often longer than shorter) and through his delicate use of music, you are transported throughout this Hawaiian tale, as if you were floating down a river. There were a few Hollywoodian shortcomings that hacked on the experience in a very minor way, but they're not part of the core of the story (how the family deals without their mother), so it's not detrimental to your appreciation of the movie. There is a strong buzz about THE DESCENDANTS being a strong contenders to the Oscars and I would say that buzz is about right.
SCORE: 85%
* It's not explained in the movie, but I think it means it's going to auction afterwards.