The Descendants (***½)
Directed By: Alexander Payne
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Matthew Lillard, Judy
Greer, Beau Bridges, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Robert Forster, Rob Heubel
Seen: February 6th 2012
***½
Out of ****
The Descendants is a very interesting and entertaining juxtaposition
of paradise and tragedy. Paradise in that events transpire on the Hawaiian
Islands, tragedy in that the main character’s wife is in a coma and will not
recover. Definite mention is made of this contrast, as the main character and
sometimes narrator Matt King (Clooney) at one stage infers that paradise can go
**** itself.
Elizabeth King is thrown from a speedboat during a race on the ocean
and suffers major head trauma and ends up in a coma; and doctors have no hope
for her recovery. Matt King, her husband, is left to deal with three major
elements in the wake of this accident. Firstly he has his wife’s request not to
prolong her life in these circumstances coupled with helping his two daughters
through this tragic time, one the 10-year old Scottie (Miller), the other the
17-year old Alex (Woodley). Then he is also sole trustee managing the
multi-million dollar sale of his family’s large Hawaiian land inheritance, with
pressure from his family to either sell or not sell (and to who), and the eyes
of all of Hawaii set on him in anticipation of the consequences of his
decision. Then lastly, and for the purposes of this story most importantly,
Matt finds out that Elizabeth was having an affair with a local realtor, Brian
Speer (Lillard). Matt has to screen Scottie from this while being helped in his
quest to find the guy by Alex and her lummox of a friend Sid (Krause).
Many small things work together to great effect in The Descendants,
such as the previously mentioned contrast between paradise and tragedy. There’s
a continual straight-faced cheerfulness that permeates the movie, as uplifting
island music and oddball humour underscores some emotional moments between the
family members and between the family and other islanders. There are attempts
from Matt to correctly raise Scottie while asking Alex how, even though Alex does
not seem the right person for this. The viewer just knows that even though Sid
seems to be little more than a caveman, wisdom will sprout from him in a
touching scene of surrendering to the tragic circumstances. Many moments of the
movie makes you think as well as feel sorry for the characters while at the
same time endearing them to you in an almost comedic way, it never feels as if
laughter is completely out of the equation, and that gives the movie strength.
George Clooney continues proving that he is one of the best actors
this generation will see, as emotions and thoughts run across his face as he
navigates this character to resolution. Shailene Woodley is terrific as Matt
King’s oldest daughter, a character that could have easily ended up in the cliché
basket but doesn’t, she makes this a true human being throughout. Smaller charaters
are believably brought to life by Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, and Beau
Bridges, to mention a few in a cast that performs well. The Descendants is a
depressing movie that isn’t all that depressing, it has heart and true feeling
by the bucket-load, and for those of you who do not see drama as a four-letter
word, I can definitely recommend it.
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