The Descendants (2011): Clooney's Best?

The Descendants is not an avant-garde film; it is not an action–adventure movie or a thriller.  It does not break new cinematic ground, and does not seek to awe us with special effects wizardry or appeal to our prurient interest.  It is a straightforward story, well told, beautifully shot and extremely well acted, about an American family dealing with some very basic life issues: love, loss, connection, regret, kinship, grief, parenting, trust, and heritage. That’s a lot to pack into a story, and yet it’s a simple story really.

Matt King (George Clooney)’s wife Elizabeth is in a coma. Matt loves his wife, but there are unresolved issues, and regrets. In confronting her impending death, he and his two daughters, Scottie (10) (Amara Miller ) and Alexandra (17) (Shailene Woodley) need to support one another, but, as Matt has always been the “back-up parent”, they first must learn how to connect with and trust one another. This is a challenge, but not the only one. Matt and his extended family are descended from Hawaiian royalty and are the heirs, in trust, to thousands of acres of pristine land. As trustee, Matt is facing an imminent deadline for deciding how to dispose of this heritage land: sell it or preserve it somehow. All of this sounds boring in the summary, but in the hands of screenwriter and director Alexander Payne, The Descendants is anything but.

Payne’s films are character studies in the context of family relationships. We get to know the people in his stories gradually, through incidents - often humorous, sometimes not - and conversations. In films like About Schmidt (2002), Sideways (2004) and now, The Descendants, Payne shows us, and his protagonists, their deepest yearnings, needs and values, by peeling away the artifice and superficiality, bit by bit, like layers of an onion, and forcing these characters to confront their deeper selves. Payne believes in the goodness of people, and ultimately his characters learn, grow, and make wise choices, even if the process of getting there is painful.

Payne is also an actor’s director. He brings out the best in his players. About Schmidt may have been Jack Nicholson’s best performance of the last fifteen years, certainly his most sensitive; Sideways made Paul Giamotti a star, and was the defining career performance for both Thomas Haden Church and Virginia Madsen.  George Clooney has never given a more subtle, vulnerable and moving performance than his Matt King in this picture; it's arguably his best role in a career of great ones. Newcomers Miller and, particularly, Woodley as King’s daughters give similarly nuanced and touching performances. Also noteworthy here are character actor Robert Forster as Elizabeth’s grieving yet cantankerous father, Beau Bridges as a cousin pressing hard for the land sale, and JudyGreer, as a wife grieving over her husband’s infidelity and trying to forgive his paramour. Nick Krause as Alexandra’s young stoner boy friend also gives a memorable performance, at first humorously goofy, but with deeper layers as the story progresses.

The Descendants is also beautifully photographed. Hawaii is, of course, a pretty photogenic place, but cinematographer Phedon Papamichael eschews the usual visual tropes and presents the islands in a new light, not as a vacation paradise, but as a homeland, a real place.  The photography, and the mood of the film generally, is augmented by a lovely, evocative soundtrack of acoustic, exclusively Hawaiian music. You will want to download this!

For some reason, the picture has been rated “R” (“language” and “some sexual references”), but really, this is a family film – provided your family isn’t looking for explosions and CGI, and you are not concerned about the occasional f-bomb. (Clooney’s character repeatedly admonishes his youngsters to stop it.) I’d call it PG-14 or 15.

I was touched by this movie and its characters - even got a little moisty. It’s been mentioned, deservedly, as a candidate for best picture of the year, as well as multiple acting awards. I liked it and recommend it.   

In wide release.