Grade: B
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster and Patricia Hastie
PREMISE: A workaholic must take control of his life-particularly the raising of his two daughters-after his wife is left in a coma by a terrible boating accident.
RATED R for strong language (including sexual references), and intense emotional content
-Even though I've written a lengthy review, I'm essentially reserving judgment on The Descendants, a new dramedy by Alexander Payne. I want to see it again, on DVD, by myself (or maybe with just one or two other people), now knowing what it's about and knowing the approach it takes, because my seeing it in theatres was irrevocably marred by the knowledge that it's up for Best Picture at the Oscars, and that it won Best Picture-Drama at the Golden Globes--and by the reaction to the film of the audience I saw it with, who were keen on the film's sometimes uneven tone and laughed loudly at even the slightest hint of humor. Given that it's billed as a heavyweight, awards-contending drama, I was expecting it to knock my socks off. Knowing the basic storyline-a man is forced to essentially win back the love of his daughters after his wife is left comatose by a boating accident-I expected something more emotional and heavyhanded. So, at every turn during The Descendants, I found myself going "this is the movie that won Best Drama? This is the movie that's up for Best Picture?"
--And then there's the fact that The Descendants is a Payne film, which means, like his best-known features, 2002's About Schmidt and 2004's Sideways, it's going to have a lot of dramatic content yet also frequent situational irony and quirky idiosyncracies that border on those of a screwball comedy. Which is exactly what the audience I saw it with-mostly elderly couples-focused on; like I said, they were quick to hoot with glee at every opportunity, even in a key late scene that, sure, bore some situational irony but also featured a character crying openly out of heartbreak in one of the film's most wrenching, honest moments. Take their laughter away (from that scene and others) and it's a different experience.
--I'm nitpicking, yes, but I walked away from The Descendants feeling underwhelmed, yet, in the immediate aftermath and in the day-and-a-half since I saw it, I've found it an awfully-hard film to think of in negative terms. Given some strong performances, a delightful musical score and some real artistic touches that complemented some late scenes, this is a complete movie, even if it's not quite the emotionally-frayed, heart-gouging drama I was expecting.
--Anyway, The Descendants centers around George Clooney's Matt King, a lawyer who's so studious and hard-working that he barely seems to notice-and doesn't take advantage of the fact -that he lives in Hawaii, with a beautiful, adventurous wife (Patricia Hastie, in a wordless role) and a pair of spirited daughters. All but alienated from his two girls-precocious, naughty 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and irascible, foul-mouthed 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley)-and much more invested in the upcoming sale of a large chunk of land he's inherited in a trust passed down his family line for nearly two centuries, he's forced to become The Parent, The Central Figure, The Glue when his wife hits her head in a boating accident and is left comatose. As weeks pass with no improvement in his wife's condition-and the prospect of submitting to her living will's wish to not be left in a vegetative state looming-Matt is forced to step away from the trust deal and entertain, distract, and, eventually, come clean with, his girls.
--It's nothing particularly special. Matt has to admit that his wife was bored with him (he, himself, was considering a divorce down the road) and that his daughters aren't exactly parents' best friend types. With a pair of rather unreliable parent role models, Scottie has turned into a crude little prankster, and Alexandra, at an expensive private school, is a troublemaker with a penchant for partying who's also the sole keeper of at least one poisonous family secret. All the while thinking about the trust deal (and dogged by his cousins-largely personified by a folksy Beau Bridges-who want the millions the sale would undoubtedly fetch), Matt takes his daughters and Alexandra's unsophisticated shmo friend Sid (Nick Krause) to the beach and on a sightseeing tour, all while attempting to delay the inevitable.
--I don't know whether this film should be the one that gets George Clooney his long-awaited Best Actor Oscar (he was nominated twice before, in 2007 and 2009, for great performances, but had no chance either time, what with first Daniel Day-Lewis, then Jeff Bridges, shoo-ins in those years), but I'll say this: he's an effortlessly watchable actor. If this movie was a full-on screwball comedy, with ten laughs per minute, I believe Clooney would succeed and audiences would watch him, or, conversely, if it was a heart-shattering, soul-bearing domestic drama full of tears and angry fights, I believe he'd succeed and audiences would watch him. Just as, in my last review (of The Ides of March), I said he was perfect for the part of a would-be honorable, but secretly sleazy, politician, he's perfect for this role. He looks and acts just as we expect George Clooney to, yet he fits this part like a glove. Maybe it's because he can do so much with his eyes. Here, Clooney has a lot less dialogue than he could, but he expresses exactly what he needs to with his eyes and his face-under duress, the lines often seem to sink and deepen as they process bad or confusing news; the audience can readily guess what he's thinking, because they can see on his face exactly what they're feeling themselves. Clooney will never be mistaken for a chameleonic thespian, like a Day-Lewis or a Christian Bale, but he is turning into someone who can play anything, and make it look easy. I'm not ready to hand the Oscar to him on a silver platter, but I won't say he doesn't deserve it; he knows how to anchor a film.
--Being in nearly every scene, Clooney is the film's key, but he's ably-supported. Once Woodley's allowed to do more than just be the angry, self-centered teenager, she proves charming and plucky and gives us real glimpses into her character's soul. She's even a perfect wingman, as evidenced in a late, key confrontation between Matt and a man (Matthew Lillard) his wife may have been planning to run away with before the accident. As little Scottie, Amara Miller toes the line between cute and obnoxious with difficulty, but it isn't primarily her fault, as the writers seem eager to capitalize on the obnoxious, bratty, knows-more-than-she-should kiddie.
--Elsewhere, Krause proves lightly amusing and even surprisingly deep on occasion as Woodley's surfer-dude sidekick, Judy Greer and Robert Forster do a lot with emotionally-important roles played out in limited screen time, and Lillard is solid in a short, difficult part.
--Like I said, Descendants isn't an easy film to dislike. Appropriately for a film set entirely on the Hawaiian Islands, it's got some gorgeous pictures and an endearing, plucky folk score that never distracts from what's on-screen, usually enhances it. And, while I felt a few scenes would have benefitted from more dialogue, a number of key emotional scenes late are pulled off memorably with almost no dialogue; the images onscreen, and what we've learned about the characters and their situation, are enough. In these it's the subtlety that wins big points, but, again that same subtlety detracts from a number of other scenes, and occasionally giving the film an uneven feel. It's clearly not Payne's style to give his audience an uncomplicated tearjerker (or uncomplicated gut-buster), but several dramatic moments don't register with the punch they could have if their fellow scenes weren't so tongue-in-cheek.
So, do I recommend it?
The Descendants is a good, harmless film, one that will satisfy moviegoers who a) don't care about movies as much as I do, and will thus laugh at the humor and cry at the emotion and accept the experience without question, or b) were just wanting to watch something with George Clooney in it. There is a lot of profanity, including a fair amount from both girls, but it's nothing ridiculously offensive (unless Woodley's dissing of a friend/rival of Scottie's as a "f***ed up hoe-bag" is too much for you). Basically, I was just waiting for a moment that me me go "Oh, okay, so that's why this is up for a bunch of Oscars." I never had that moment. But that isn't the film's fault; it's just a film that critics and circles of voters decided to like.
Bottom Line (I promise):
Clooney's great in one of his better performances, but I just can't stop wondering what could have been. That said, there are enough smiles, laughs, tears and watchable scenes that this film, perhaps not a straight-shooting drama, should nonetheless win fans and admirers handily.
The Descendants (2011)
Directed by Alexander Payne
Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings
Written by Alexander Payne, Jim Rash, and Nat Faxon
Rated R for for strong language, sexual references, and intense emotional content
Length: 115 minutes
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