Fresh Reviews: "The Descendants"

Rated R for a pretty fair amount of strong language. The movie also contains some sexual references and a scene of teen drinking, but those aren't at more than a PG-13 level. The language is the reason for the rating. (And it is the way those characters would actually talk in real life, not just for effect.)

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Well, it's Oscar season again so of course George Clooney is once more in theatres with not one but two current releases. As much as I enjoyed "The Ides Of March" I'm not going to be making any bets about it picking up the big nominations, but Alexander Payne's "The Descendants" is another story. It does seem that a "small" semi-indie movie hardly even dares to tell a story about a dysfunctional family with quiet, bonding moments anymore for fear of being accused of being an indie cliche or quite intentionally going for the awards. But some film makers (and stars) are genuinely interested in that kind of story and good at telling it. Plus, we might as well face it, the vast majority of us have lived through some variation of that story and can intensely identify with it. So, go ahead, Payne and Clooney... most of us are with you. After seeing this movie, I can certainly guarantee you that I am.

It's the story of Matt King (George Clooney), whose wife has gone into a coma as the result of a boating accident and now is in charge of his two daughters, whom he has had virtually no connection with until now. Younger daughter Scottie Amara Miller is slightly distant, but older daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) is every parent's nightmare of resentful rebellion. Matt is already up to his ears in trouble when he learns that before her accident his wife had been cheating on him, and he begins to feel compelled to seek out the man she was seeing... MAYBE to simply offer forgiveness, but maybe not...

In his previous movies, director Payne proved to be a master of stories that were not specifically comedies as such, but that kept counteracting the most somber, downbeat moments with laughs. "The Descendants" is probably both his most serious (at times verging on tragedy) film as well as his funniest. Throughout the movie you'll find scenes of Clooney and his family in deep emotional pain and then crack up at some sillyness. And it never feels forced... it's more like Payne realizes that life is often like that, with the tragedy and the comedy mixed in so it's all part of the same experience. And while it IS, after all, a script designed to evoke specific emotions from its audience, it never felt obviously forced to me: it honestly seemed like I was observing a real family going through some very tough times and learning how they could get each other through them. Maybe I'm just a sucker for stories like that well told, but I found it very emotionally affecting.

The excellent script and directing are aided by a sterling cast. Clooney is one of the few glamorous "A" listers who is a genuinely good actor, and you really feel his pain in this movie (and are genuinely uplifted when he can get past it). His eldest daughter is played by Shailene Woodley who, while not a newcomer, I have never seen in anything before... but will definitely be looking for in the future. She gives her rebellious teen real depth. Beau Bridges turns up in a small role as Clooney's cousin, offering a fine and touching look at how the family's dysfunction goes beyond just Clooney and the daughters. And to my surprise, even Matthew Lillard and Judy Greer, usually the rather shallow stars of very shallow comedies, are fine here as the man Clooney's wife had been cheating with, and his wife (yep, a married man).

Payne also shows himself to be an expert at tiny little moments that add greatly to the emotional effect of the film. When Woodley, sitting by the edge of a pool, is first informed of the seriousness of her mother's condition, you expect to see her burst out in tears in a typical crying scene... but instead she slides into the water and only when she is completely beneath the surface do you see her let go... underwater and with virtually no sound, it's a moment of more power than most film makers have given us with the most showy outbursts, a moment the character didn't want anyone else to see. And when Clooney winds up having a brief talk with Woodley's slacker boyfriend and learns about how he not only has more depth and intelligence than he'd suspected, but has some personal background the enables him to identify and sympathize with Clooney's situation, it's a very effecting bonding moment that could bring you to tears if Payne had tried to milk the scene. Instead, he holds it for just long enough to let the audience feel the connection the two have formed, and then lets it go. There are many other little moments like that in this film.

So yes, "The Descendants" is a touching, powerful and sometimes painful look at a dysfunctional family. Indie movie standard, right? It's also very funny a lot more often than you'd suspect. Also indie standard, perhaps. But Alexander Payne is no "standard" movie maker, and his cast and crew have not made a standard movie here. What they have made is a film that can often feel like life, and make you connect with the characters as if they were real people you actually knew. I would definitely recommend that you see it. But one word of advice: you might want to bring some tissues.