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The Descendants - Movie Review
Grade: B
Looking back at the critical success of films such as Ordinary People - a film that upset Raging Bull about a family’s reaction to their son’s death - and Kramer vs Kramer - a Maryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman acted film about a couple’s divorce - American cinema has undoubtedly been infatuated and touched by contemporary tragedies. Alexander Payne’s follow up to Sideways, The Descendants, continues this trend that connects first-world families to a universal sense of tragedy, displaying that individuals - rich or poor - must deal with adversity and affliction. Payne’s film stays true to its portrait of grief, but the success of the film derives from the fact that the film is able to blend sentimentality, humor, and agony - resulting in a truly an emotional piece that accurately conveys human emotion.
Based on Kaui Hart Hemming’s novel of the same name, Payne’s film takes place in the “luxurious” Hawaii, breaking the stereotype that there is a perfect paradise. George Clooney plays Matt King, a lawyer who on behalf of the other “descendants” in the King tribe, is on the verge of selling his inherited land. Just as King is in the process of executing the deal, his wife Elizabeth is in a boating accident and goes into a coma. Matt King -whose stern behavior and overly ardent work ethic has deemed him the “back-up parent” - then gathers his two daughters Scottie and Alex (Shailene Woodley) to unite the family for Elizabeth’s final days. But when Alex tells Clooney’s character that his wife had an affair with a man named Bryan Speer (Matthew Lilliard), the film then focuses on Matt’s attempt to confront his wife’s lover. The Descendants then jumps around from this confrontation to the many plot strands it leaves in its trail.
