The Descendants (Fox Searchlight)

The Descendants

Studio: Fox Searchlight
Directed by Alexander Payne; Starring George Clooney

Nov 18, 2011 By John Everhart Web Exclusive

Director Alexander Payne made ripples in the indie landscape with his superb 1999 film Election, which struck a terrific balance of flippant irreverence and tender pathos. His returns have been nearly equally as impressive since, highlighted by 2004's sublime Sideways and 2002's underrated idiosyncratic oddball About Schmidt. His newest film The Descendants finds Payne veering towards a more conventional Hollywood style, which isn't a bad thing, as he proves here to be damn good at it.

The film largely revolves around Matt King, lawyer and landowner (terrifically played by George Clooney) as he strives to make amends with his two young daughters after his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is seriously wounded in a boating accident, and tenuously survives on life support, inexorably leading to her death. It occasionally veers into the odiously staid Hollywood dichotomy of heart tugging yet feel good clichés, but is often leavened by terrific ensemble members including Sid (Nick Krause), the stoner boyfriend of King's daughter Alexandra (Shalilene Woodley), and Mark Mitchell (Rob Huebel), whose hilariously droll lines lighten the film's high gravitas.

Not that the high gravitas is necessarily a bad thing here. Clooney does what he does best: coming across as a believably flawed everyman despite his white-hot movie star credentials, and the supporting cast largely dazzles with their roles that complement Clooney's superbly. The film's main flaw is that it plays it too safe at times, and could do with more explicit explorations of the sordid undercurrents of darkness that lurk tantalizingly beneath its surface. Todd Solondz could've had a field day with it.

Yet, for all its flaws, one would be hard pressed to find a more entertaining Oscar worthy popcorn flick. That may sound like a dismissal, but it isn't. There's love, loss, and redemption, depicted by Payne with a spirited élan. Ultimately The Descendants provides nearly two hours of often moving, escapist entertainment, and isn't that what a movie's supposed to accomplish? (www.foxsearchlight.com/thedescendants)

Author rating: 7/10

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Average reader rating: 8/10