The Descendants | Review
‘The Descendants’ is a damn triumph of a film. Director and co-writer Alexander Payne (‘Election’, ‘About Schmidt’ & ‘Sideways’) has given us a funny, yet daring and powerfully emotional film about family, but most importantly a film about the unexpectedness of life itself. The paradise that is Hawaii may be the film’s setting, but the characters’ experiences are far from paradise. George Clooney gives his most raw performance in years, allowing viewers to delve into his character’s delicate state of loss and confusion.
George Clooney plays Matt King, the straight-laced lawyer who also happens to be a descendant of one of the first white royal families in Hawaii. King is the sole trustee of one of the most in-demand land in Hawaii, and must discuss with his cousins and other relatives as to this land’s fate; they could sell the land and make a big profit off of it, or keep the land for another seven years. More stress comes into Matt’s life when his wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), succumbs to a coma after a terrible boating accident. Her will clearly states that Matt pull the plug and let her die.
Matt, the “backup” parent, is now forced to take care of his two daughters, 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and pre-teen Scottie (Amara Miller). These girls don’t make life any easier for Matt, with Scottie acting up everywhere she goes, and Alexandra’s disrespectful attitude towards him and her coma-induced mother. On top of this Matt finds out his wife had been less than faithful to their marriage in the past few months.
Shailene Woodley (‘The Secret Life of the American Teenager’) is an absolutely pleasant surprise as the troubled and upset teenager. Woodley’s Alexandra character isn’t the typical rebel teenager as she helps Matt deal with life’s obstacles. Matt works together with his daughter to find his wife’s lover, which leads to a family trip to Kauai. This confrontational trip could have been a cliche-ridden disaster, but Alexander Payne avoids this completely. The trip allows for the development of many interesting surprises, such as the relation between Elizabeth’s lover, Bryan Speer (Matthew Lillard, from ‘Wicker Park’ & ‘Scooby-Doo’) and the would-be buyer of Matt’s Hawaiian estate, and the discovery of Speer’s loving wife, Julie (Judy Greer).
Again, director Alexander Payne avoids any cliches or melodrama with the Speers. Matt only wants answers to the affair, as well as to inform Bryan about Elizabeth’s fate. Matthew Lillard and Judy Greer’s performances as the Speers are beautiful and honest. The trip also finds surprises in the film’s supporting characters, such as Scott Thorson (Robert Forster), Matt’s difficult father-in-law, and Sid (Nick Krause), Alexandra’s annoying and socially inept friend. Both Scott and Sid are hard to like at first glance, but their revelatory performances in the latter half of the film make up for it.
The emotional highlights of the film are Matt and Alexandra’s moments with a coma-induced Elizabeth, as well as points where Matt reveals to friends and family members of Elizabeth’s inevitable death. Every single supporting actor in ‘The Descendants’ reacts to this news with sheer emotional force, and these scenes are definite tear-jerkers.
The wonderful script for ‘The Descendants’ is co-written by Nat Faxon and Jim Rash (Dean Pelton from the critically-acclaimed television series, ‘Community’). This is one of the best films of the year, full of laughs, cries, and everything in between. Director and co-writer Alexander Payne, co-writers Faxon and Rash, and the great performances by Clooney and Woodley should all earn Academy Award nominations.
