THE DESCENDANTS (Alexander Payne, 2011)
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| George Clooney in The Descendants |
A father, who is indifferent to
his family – wife, and two children, both adolescent girls - is forced to
re-examine his past to prepare for the future without the wife, who is in a
coma after suffering head trauma in a boating accident in Hawaii. Adding
complication, which is more than enough to put him to a dilemma, is the
pressure put on him by his cousins to sell a big piece of land they inherited
from their ancestors, who used to be royalties and missionaries in Hawaii. What
I like about the film is its blending humour with tragedy, the result being an
effective and decent film. Somehow, the film reminds of me another Alexander
Payne’s film, Sideways, in terms of feel, and the 2003 Academy Award Best
Foreign Language film, The Barbarian Invasions, in terms of one sensitive topic
that the film presents.
George Clooney, who plays the father, Matt King,
gives one of his career’s best performances.
Rating: 4.0/4.0
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