The Descendants is my personal favorite film of that year because of its intricacies of emotion, humor, entertainment, characters, setting, and, most importantly, realism. Alexander Payne has officially become one of my favorite filmmakers with this work, which was preceded by his other notable works, About Schmit and Sideways. The dialogue in this film is so true and moving that it easily rivals the works of Quentin Tarantino. I also want to give credit to the best ensemble cast of year, including George Clooney, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, the newcomer, Shailene Woodley, etc. By the way, Clooney and Woodley deserve the Oscars in their respective categories; this is the best of Clooney's performances.
The story follows three different sub-plots: the permanent coma and inevitable and fast-approaching death of the wife of Matt King (Clooney) and dealing with his immediate and extended family with how to tell them and move on with life after the tragedy, the selling of the last virgin piece of Hawaiian land owned by the King family since the 1860s (hence the title: The Descendants) and of which Matt is the sole trustee, and, of course, the discovery and confrontation of the guy who was sleeping with Matt's wife. The stories go along so very seamlessly and logically that it keeps the audience absolutely enthralled until the very end.
The film deals with a gravely sensitive issue: crappy parents, but, in this case, crappy moms. I'm not talking about the ones who don't provide for their children or give them enough attention; I'm talking about the ones who are quite simply bad people that are self-centered and hurt the people around them in some way all the time. As the film confirms, the children of these moms don't find out how crappy they are until they are like adults; observe the relationship between Alex (Woodley) and her mom and then observe the relationship between, or rather the perception of, that mom with the younger sister Scotty. A lot of people automatically stereotype teenagers and tend to write off their views and opinions because they suspect them of being drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniacs as a result of personal experience. However, even if one might be a drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniac, a teenager can be right and can even have a good sense of judging whether their parent is a genuinely bad person or not. Alex is definitely one of those.
Aside from the crappy mom, Matt is a very good dad and, on top of that, a good person. He is an easily sympathetic and lovable protagonist, but he is seriously sad. As one of the smaller characters simply stated about Matt's situation: "it really blows," before Matt replies: "I know." Matt's problems are uniquely sh***y. Not only does he have to deal with telling all his family and friends that his wife is going to die, but he also has to deal with the process of selling what seems to be his last connection to his ancestors and Hawaii itself and to deal with some a**hole who saw his wife without his knowing about it. Matt's weakness is that he tends to go on cruise-control and eventually ends up being unaware of his situation and problems. This movie shows his revelation of those things.
I love this movie because it is truly the most realistic piece of the year. It has the full range of effective and inspiring story-telling, acting, cinematography, and true "vision up the butt so just go with it" directorial and screen-writing ability from Alexander Payne and his co-writers, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Also, not to forget, the brilliant creator of the story and author of the novel, Kaui Hart Hemmings. I know this name only matters if Kaui reads this, which Kaui probably won't, but you never know. Also . . . this film will win the Golden Globe, but I am a little doubtful that it will the votes of the conservative members of the Academy . . . I mean it's competing with a Scorsese flick, a Spielberg epic, and a silent and black and white movie that is actually pretty good. Nevertheless, I know that The Descendants deserves to be dubbed as Best Picture of 2011 and it happens one of my personal favorite films of all time.
I highly recommend that you most definitely see this film.
The story follows three different sub-plots: the permanent coma and inevitable and fast-approaching death of the wife of Matt King (Clooney) and dealing with his immediate and extended family with how to tell them and move on with life after the tragedy, the selling of the last virgin piece of Hawaiian land owned by the King family since the 1860s (hence the title: The Descendants) and of which Matt is the sole trustee, and, of course, the discovery and confrontation of the guy who was sleeping with Matt's wife. The stories go along so very seamlessly and logically that it keeps the audience absolutely enthralled until the very end.
The film deals with a gravely sensitive issue: crappy parents, but, in this case, crappy moms. I'm not talking about the ones who don't provide for their children or give them enough attention; I'm talking about the ones who are quite simply bad people that are self-centered and hurt the people around them in some way all the time. As the film confirms, the children of these moms don't find out how crappy they are until they are like adults; observe the relationship between Alex (Woodley) and her mom and then observe the relationship between, or rather the perception of, that mom with the younger sister Scotty. A lot of people automatically stereotype teenagers and tend to write off their views and opinions because they suspect them of being drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniacs as a result of personal experience. However, even if one might be a drug-using, "dad-hating," irresponsible, sex crazed maniac, a teenager can be right and can even have a good sense of judging whether their parent is a genuinely bad person or not. Alex is definitely one of those.
Aside from the crappy mom, Matt is a very good dad and, on top of that, a good person. He is an easily sympathetic and lovable protagonist, but he is seriously sad. As one of the smaller characters simply stated about Matt's situation: "it really blows," before Matt replies: "I know." Matt's problems are uniquely sh***y. Not only does he have to deal with telling all his family and friends that his wife is going to die, but he also has to deal with the process of selling what seems to be his last connection to his ancestors and Hawaii itself and to deal with some a**hole who saw his wife without his knowing about it. Matt's weakness is that he tends to go on cruise-control and eventually ends up being unaware of his situation and problems. This movie shows his revelation of those things.
I love this movie because it is truly the most realistic piece of the year. It has the full range of effective and inspiring story-telling, acting, cinematography, and true "vision up the butt so just go with it" directorial and screen-writing ability from Alexander Payne and his co-writers, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Also, not to forget, the brilliant creator of the story and author of the novel, Kaui Hart Hemmings. I know this name only matters if Kaui reads this, which Kaui probably won't, but you never know. Also . . . this film will win the Golden Globe, but I am a little doubtful that it will the votes of the conservative members of the Academy . . . I mean it's competing with a Scorsese flick, a Spielberg epic, and a silent and black and white movie that is actually pretty good. Nevertheless, I know that The Descendants deserves to be dubbed as Best Picture of 2011 and it happens one of my personal favorite films of all time.
I highly recommend that you most definitely see this film.
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