The Descendants: Review

Hello!

So Alexander Payne returns to the directors chair for the first time in 7 years with The Descendants, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. Yes it’s been 7 years since Sideways wowed critics and made almost 10 times it’s budget at the theatre. I however at first was not a fan of Sideways, unlike Election and Citizen Ruth, both of which I loved instantly, I had to watch Sideways a few times before I actually enjoyed it. For me it’s not as great as others make out, but it’s still a damn good film. So would The Descendants wow me from watch one or would it require me to ponder and wait for a home viewing rewatch?

The Descendants focuses on Hawaiian Matt King and how he is forced to build a relationship with his two daughters, 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) as he tries to come to terms with the fact that his wife will not wake from the coma she is in after a boating accident. Matt is a property lawyer by profession and his work has meant he has not spent any real quality time with either of his kids, a situation exacerbated with Alex as she was sent to boarding school after she had trouble with drink and drugs.

Matt is also sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kaua’i. This land hold will soon expire and Matt and his cousins are currently in the process of wrapping up a sale, that needs Matt and Matt alone’s authorisation, it will make him and his cousins richer, but Matt is finding it will not please the locals.

Matt is coping with juggling his duty to his cousins and having to break the news of his wife’s impending death to his daughters and extended family well. Until his eldest daughter informs him that her mother, Matt’s wife, was actually cheating on him. This news seems to send Matt over the edge, as he enlist his daughters help in tracking down the man in question, even though he can’t work out why, or what he will do if he ever actually meets the mystery man.

This is George Clooney’s film, there is no mistake in that. Clooney has become one of those actors that’s always good, just sometimes he’s very good. I personally think Clooney would love to be one of the great character actors, shifting personality, and creating a whole persona in each film. This however is not possible for somebody with all the natural charisma of somebody like Clooney. That’s not to say that character actors are all dullards, it’s just George Clooney became so recognisable as Dr. Doug Ross in ER, it would have been almost impossible for him to have been able to shed the fact that he’s George Clooney.

Here Clooney gets to be funny but flawed, Matt’s overt niceness shines through and it’s obvious that his obsession with work during his kids formative years was not out of neglect, but fear. Being a parent is not easy, now of course it’s not supposed to be, and that’s a very cliche thing to say, but one of the hardest things as a parent is accepting the fact that your child’s personality is not something you can control. Manners, compassion and a sensible world outlook are all things you can, and should, instil in your children, but no matter what, you can’t control who they are. Matt has been forced to realise he doest know his kids, and he’s damn sure he has no idea who Sid (Nick Krause) is.

But it would be churlish to simply heap all the praise on Clooney, there are other very fine performances in The Descendants. Robert Forester shines as the cantankerous and hyper aggressive father in-law, Scott who chooses to show his grief by finding ways to blame Matt for his daughters accident. Forester is also responsible for one laugh out loud moment in the film that you will not see coming. Shailene Woodley as Alex is also very impressive. She sees the fact that it was her who brought her mothers infidelity to the attention of her father as some kind of twisted bond they now share. It’s not the way she wanted to connect with her father, but in searching for the identity of her mothers lover, she finally has some common ground to share with her father.Other fine performances come from Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, and Judy Greer, the later two whom I find are criminally underused and underrated actors.

Alexander Payne and cinematographer Phedon Papamichael do a great job in capturing the natural beauty of Hawaii, with Payne making it obvious from the start that Hawaii is a place like everywhere else, it just looks more relaxed. This is where I have slight issue with the film.

In Matt’s opening monologue he states that Hawaii is like everywhere else and the normal issues of life still affect it’s inhabitants. This is like opening the film by saying this is Hawaii, but real. Yet Payne predictably uses the traditional Hawaiian music soundtrack, and sets much of it on plush beautiful beaches. Now there is a possibility that Payne is trying to say that no matter how great your life or its setting, you still think you could have better. That’s possible but I just felt at times his opening of the film was juxtaposed to the aesthetic used to frame it. Also, at points, the film crosses the barrier into stupidity and this feels in congress to much of the film.

The Descendants is a very good film, that has one of the best performances of a very talented actors career, from George Clooney. Luckily all the supporting cast also bring their A game. I have issues with it, but they are so minor that I will not let them get in the way of what is a funny, touching and emotionally complex film. I’d recommend seeing it without question, but it’s not the masterpiece some would have you believe. It will however more than likely win the best picture and best actor awards at this years Academy Awards, and out of those nominated it wouldn’t anger me if it did.

The Descendants is released in theatres across the UK from 27th of January 2012 and is on general release in US theatres now.

Anyway peace out suckers!