9.5 out of 10
'The Descendants' is one of the year's best films because it tackles a couple of very tough topics and does so with a type of grace and poise. Add to that a Best Actor worthy performance from George Clooney, a Best Supporting Actress worthy performance from Shailene Woodley and a Best Adapted Screenplay worthy script and you have yourself the formula for a truly fantastic film. As a critic I sometimes find myself more on the side of the general public than my critic peers when you start talking about awards, but this film is going to create a bit of Oscar buzz and I am totally on board with that.
Even if you find yourself disagreeing with critics around this time of year when they say a film is 'Oscar worthy' give 'The Descendants' a chance. It has my vote.
Any spoilers will be clearly marked so you can avoid reading them if you so choose.
The Descendants is now playing in Baltimore.
The Good
George Clooney's character, Matt King, is a real estate lawyer and executive of a large trust. He's a busy guy. His life is turned upside down when his wife is in a boating accident and suffers some severe injuries. King is forced to reconnect with his daughters all while dealing with business issues, hospital visits and communicating with family and friends.
Clooney is absolutely brilliant portraying this man who is being pulled in so many different directions while riding an emotional rollercoaster. He should at least get a nomination for Best Actor and he has my vote. Shailene Woodley, who plays his 17-year old daughter, is also brilliant and does a great job showing the range of emotions and attitudes that a girl of her age would go through as her mother is in the hospital. You may see her get a nomination as well.
The story in The Descendants is a powerful one that hits close to home. It's one of those 'worst case scenario' situations that everyone thinks could never happen to them, until it does. Something like that would knock even the strongest person back on his/her heels and force them to figure things out on the fly, sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing miserably. Director Alexander Payne, who also co-wrote the screenplay, took great care to handle these topics diligently and realistically. When you watch the characters on screen you connect to them and cease to see the actors and instead see real people dealing with trial and tragedy in real life.
By the time the credits roll you will sit there and hope that you could deal with a situation like the one you just saw with even a fraction of the humility and self control that Matt King did.
The Bad
The Descendants is a little on the long side at just over 2 hours. The pacing seems fine, but with such a heavy topic and emotional beating it may have been better if it wrapped up a little sooner.
The Bottom Line
The film, Clooney, Woodley and the screenplay all got my vote for their respective categories. Sure, I have my 'guilty pleasure' movies that I may have enjoyed more, but as far as all around great filmmaking goes, The Descendants is hard to beat this year. It's entertaining. It's powerful. It's artsy. It's realistic. It's beautiful. And it is simply great. See this one and see it soon. You will want to know what all the talk is about as the Academy Awards get closer. And, if you disagree, just keep it to yourself.
Of course I'm kidding! Reviews are opinions. This is mine. What's yours? Leave some comments.
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