The Descendants

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Plot: Elizabeth King gets in a boating accident, and the doctors are ready to pull the plug. Husband Matt (George Clooney) has to tell daughters Alex (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara) that Mom is going to die. Scottie and Alex are both acting out, and give Dad a hard time. Alex drags friend Sid (Nick Krause) along on visits to the hospitals and relatives as they let people know of Elizabeth's impending death. In the meantime, the King family is working with their cousins to sell multi-million dollar beach front property they inherited; creating yet another layer of family dynamics.

Review: The Descendants is a well-written movie with substantive characters having one serious conversation after another. All the action is in the minds of the characters, but the family dynamics is realistic and the characters are engaging. The plot twist in the middle turns up the volume on the tension.

I liked George Clooney throughout. Even though he is so familiar, he inhabits the character and does not seem too famous for the role. He takes in all the tumult and depicts in naturally -- if a little understated. He never seems to get mad, but frustrated.

Actress Woodley most fun scenes are when she is hostile at the beginning, but she changes to being helpful later, and becomes more likable. She has some good reaction shots. Her scenes are also a little more understated that realistic, and I think that is the hand of director Payne.

The soundtrack was unremarkable. Although there are beautiful vistas of Hawaii, the photography is not awe-inspiring.

The real star of The Descendants is the writing. I liked the movie a lot. It was substantive and it was a real movie with feelings, emotions, and a moral direction. I am not sure if its quality makes up for its basic lack of fun-ness. It is a lot of dialog with only a little levity.

The pacing of the movie is fine, but it is dominated our knowledge that the whole enterprise ends with a death, crying and a funeral. I suppose life is like that too.

Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley

Directed by: Alexander Payne, who shares credit for the writing.

Rating:   4.0 - stars.  It is not as good as Moneyball or Young Adult, but it is better than Marilyn. Better than Hugo, Bridesmaids, Super 8 or Harry Potter. 

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More: The character of Sid was pretty clever; he provides some comic relief, and makes the movie 100 times less stuffy. 

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