Everybody's Talking About...The Descendants

I am not a fan of George Clooney. I've said this once before and I'll stick by it, even if he wins every bloody Oscar the academy throw at him. I just find him to be one of those smarmy, too-grinny actors that you just want to punch in the face. At least that's my opinion.

There is one redeeming quality about him though and its his recent involvement in the Oscar nominated The Descendants. Directed and written by Alexander Payne (sharing the writing credits with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash), The Descendants follows the life of Matt King, a real estate agent in Hawaii whose fortunate family have allowed him to live a comfortable, stress-free existence for most of his life. That is until his wife, Elizabeth (played by Patricia Hastie), hits her head in a boating accident and falls into a coma. What follows is a humorous journey between a father, his two daughters, and a delinquent teenager, as they attempt to find out about their soon-to-be-late mother's extramarital lover (and inadvertently find out a lot more about themselves in the process).

I enjoyed this movie as much as I did not enjoy it. Acting, cinematography and editing were all a little subpar with a bizarre soundtrack which did not add much depth to the overall narrative. However, there was a subtle beauty in this film which I did enjoy, despite my brain's constant chanting of "We Hate Clooney! We Hate Clooney!" (yes, its a bad habit. Apologies). The writing in this film was exquisite. Faxon, Rash and Payne had all made plenty of effort to piece together the various elements of this family's story whilst interweaving an intricate web of the usual "6°of Separation" theory contrasted again the unusual, tropical paradise of Hawaii. Each individual character in this film was cleverly crafted into their own roles. Whilst Clooney took up A LOT of story time, his character was more of an emotionless canvas upon which our other colourful characters painted themselves. Shailene Woodley who plays Alexandra and Amara Miller who plays Scotty work brilliantly against Clooney's obvious discomfort with children so that we clearly see a family who don't know that much about eachother really but understand that above all, family does have a special bond, no matter what the circumstances in which they were brought together (I think many of us can agree with this statement). Another aspect to the screenplay which was cleverly conducted was the integration of the very Hawaii-nesqueness in which the story unfolds. Drama happens behind closed doors. Secrets unfold in major tsunamis and soft ripples. And everybody knows everybody, making the whole concept behind this family's difficult social situation that much more reactive.

I believe the Academy nominated The Descendants for both best adapted screenplay, director, and picture due to its poignant yet abnormal story that a lot of audience members will enjoy listening to. I do know also that Clooney's acting in this film was MUCH better than his recent adventures (Intolerable Cruelty anyone?) and his character for the first time was not so much George Clooney as it was more Matt King, a fact I could stomach much more easily with my popcorn and Diet Coke. I do think this film will do well at the Oscars but as for the Best Picture nod, I am waiting for a few more viewings before resting that decision on this film.