'Descendants' Easily Ascends to Golden Spotlight

George Clooney plays a prominent real estate agent with strong family ties to Hawaiian royalty.

You can’t always choose where you come from or who you’re related to, but at the very least, there’s that given option to make it work. In The Descendants, Matt King (George Clooney) is a prominent real estate agent, whose family life plays second fiddle to his work life. He refers to himself as the backup parent and lacks a strong relationship with either of his two daughters. 

But when his wife is comatose from a boating accident, King has to pull together with his children in order to survive the ordeal. And while coming to grips with his wife’s state, Clooney’s character additionally has to manage the status of the last virginal Hawaiian real estate. King’s ancestors married into Hawaiian royalty ages ago, connecting their legacies to that of King Kamehameha I, and as a result, inherited that hefty amount of paradise.

Alexander Payne, has been absent from the directorial spectrum for quite some time, though when makes an impact, it is unquestionably head-on. Like Election, About Schmidt, and Sideways, The Descendants is a moving film that takes its leisurely pace to unfold the subplots away from the primary plot, yet still connecting the smaller moments a much larger picture. Clooney is thrown in every direction of his immediate family and relatives; sometimes have too much on his plate to deal with at any given time. Juggling between his comatose wife, his pair of daughters who constantly swear and throw up middle fingers, and his self-interest seeking relatives who seek to benefit from selling the large piece of real estate. The consistent dysfunctional family is realistic as everything builds up it would with an ordinary person going through tough times.

Clooney is in typical Clooney mode in The Descendants, balancing the comedy with the drama just as Payne directs it. This type of performance is not a shoo-in for a second Oscar for Clooney, but at the same time cannot go unnoticed for at least a nomination. One minute, audiences are laughing at an Aloha-shirt clad Clooney yelling “Run, George run!” as he’s awkwardly pursuing his target, while the next, touched by the bond he’s creating with his daughters. The two daughters are equally as realistic and 2011 must definitely be the year of younger actors, because these are two more, particularly the elder daughter who emulates the stereotypical rebellious and occasionally obnoxious teenager does a fantastic job doing so.

Payne insists on making this an authentic ride for audiences. At first it feels uncomfortable laughing at several parts of this movie, considering the serious content, but Payne invites it constantly. After a while, audiences begin to grasp what the funny moments are before being thrown back into the drama. The juxtaposition doesn’t feel awkward either and is refreshing to watch, particularly if one has the preconception that The Descendants is just two hours of Clooney dealing with his wife’s inevitable death. Much of The Descendants holds firm in ownership, preservation, betrayal and family relations and the multiple subplots work together to make sure that each has its place with the narrative.

Though following the novel, setting the film in Hawaii doesn’t strengthen the importance of the plot. If this wasn’t an adaptation, the backdrop is interchangeable minus the notion of preserving paradise. Except for the occasional Hawaiian music and perhaps a single instance of custom, it doesn’t have that stereotypical idea of Hawaii, with Hulas or pineapples. It’s fantastic that Payne broke away from stereotype, but there is still a lack of identity differentiating it from other possible locations.

Alexander Payne returns with a strong directorial addition with The Descendants, taking facets of real-life situations and submerging them into a much deeper and richer narrative.  

GRADE: A- (9/10)
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