Alexander Payne’s poignant drama-comedy, the unforgettable masterpiece Sideways (2004), is enough to give credence to his latest film, The Descendants, even if you haven’t seen it yet.
Based on the novel of the same title by Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants, nominated Best Picture in this year’s Oscars, is about Matthew King (Clooney), a father who is trying to cope with a double trauma: the sudden comatose of his wife, and then finding out that she was cheating on him. On top of the struggle of losing a brain-dead wife and unable to confront her, he also has to deal with his two difficult daughters who are alien to him, not made easy by a friend of his eldest daughter, a tactless (and hilarious) teenage boy who tags along in the family’s life-changing and painful journey.
The movie is set in Hawaii, where King is the trustee of a huge part of the island as a direct descendant of the original Hawaiian owners. The story is engaging right from the beginning, rich and fast-paced, and the candid and cutting humor is reminiscent of Sideways, eliciting raucous laughter. However, Clooney, who was Oscar-nominated in this movie, was overrated. Yes, his role here is different from his usual roles. In this film, he is a mild mannered aging father who is clueless and perplexed with his foul-mouthed daughters and weighed down by the sudden turn of events in his life. But Clooney’s performance was exactly that: a “performance.” In movies, we hate to see “acting.” We want to forget that these people are merely pretending; rather, we want to be fooled into thinking that we are actually watching real people with real stories. Clooney failed to transform in my eyes, and there were split-second moments when he seemed to be grasping for his lines and reactions. His performance in Up in the Air was even significantly better. Also, some of the performers are shockingly amateurs, like the few Hawaiian extras-- which decrease the movie’s credibility and quality, no matter how potent the storytelling is or how amazing the others’ performances are. Unexpectedly, the highly impressive performances came not from Clooney, but from the daughters and the teenage boy, but most particularly the youngest daughter (Amara Miller).
Despite the poor performances of some of the actors in the movie, The Descendants, more notable for its sharp humor rather than the drama, is still absorbing in its entirety… a unique and engaging screenplay that is still a must-see in the line-up of Oscar nominees for Best Picture.
3 out 5 stars
The Descendants hits theaters this February 15, 2012
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