The Descendants: Review By Bawnian©-Dexeus

The Descendants is a 2011 American comedy drama.

Directed by: Alexander Payne.

Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, and Robert Forester.

A terrible accident brings a family and its culture together.

When you open a film, it should quickly tell us what it's going to be about. We see a woman on a sport motorboat and then fades to black. She suffered an accident that leaves her in a coma where only life support is keep her alive. This forces Matt King (Clooney), a wealthy lawyer who is descendant of a blend of white missionaries and royal Hawaiians. He has over 25,000 acres of land in which the owners dead for him and his family as a whole can either resell or maintain on their own. Just as he is about to pick a group to sell it to, he hears that his wife Elizabeth King is in a roman from her motorboat accident. This forces Matt King to drop everything he's doing to be with her, and try to get his family together rot be there for her until further development.

Along the way, as Clooney narrates, his daughter, Alexandra "Alex" King who was away in a boarding school around the Hawaii islands, tells him that her mother, his wife, was having an affair and was ready to leave him. This forces Clooney's character and creates the goal of finding out who this mystery man is. The entire movie deals with this tough family ordeal but is not without impressive humor that maintains you afloat from start to finish. It's almost like an ideal family film, but for for older members; from the ages of 16+. Without it's unexacting humor, this movie would have been quite depressing, but not without relating to it, No,no,no. as a family, we can relate vividly. I've suffered from parents divorcing and have had in the past to schedule my life to which parent I had to visit in an order. Divorce sucks! Big TIme! It even almost caused me to rebel, but I got through just fine.

We see a family coping with what seems to be hopeless wish of wanting the mother to wake up. It teaches us and the characters family values in it's now way. And I say this because not everyone deals with pain of this magnitude in the same way. Sure, it breaks the conventions of the ideal mother/wife, but nobody is perfect. it does however present the gullible husband and the teenage daughter with resentment and the youngest daughter who acts upon what she hears and not by her parent's teachings.

The acting was pitch perfect. The comedy was hilarious and unexpected, so was the location. I mean, I saw flowers in the trailer but I thought that was a creative film approach. Amazing how ignorant and oblivious I was before seeing the movie. Though to be fair, the movie showed the good side of Hawaii. Maybe the other side wasn't in the book.

The Actors:

George Clooney: The Oscar favorite. I wouldn't be surprise if he got nominated. Most say he just plays himself. Maybe it's true or maybe it's not. You know what? Who cares? I like the man in all his work. Loved him in E.R. too!

Shailene Woodley: Now, how is it that she plays her role here in great fashion but sucks as a pregnant teen? It must be the script.

The Visuals:

I like how the movie presented a natural look on the surroundings and didn't work on using too much exposure or contrast or even forcing the sun. The sunset was beautifully captured.

Overall:

Another family film not to be missed and one of the very best of the year.

Written by: Bawnian©-Dexeus.