The Descendants

Directed by Alexander Payne
Staring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller
Rated M
Score 5/6

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.

The Descendants comes across as an odd movie, but I suppose that is the point considering that there really is not a rational way to deal with a death in the family, especially when dark secrets become known.
The use of voices-overs by George Clooney in the first third of the movie really did seem interesting at first, but with their frequency if they were featured throughout the entire movie they would have the potential to become very annoying very quickly.
Director Alexander Payne had a fabulous opportunity to highlight the beauty of the Hawaiian landscape which he took full advantage of.
Given the track record for some of his performances I thought Matthew Lillard was a bold casting choice, could it be that he is maturing as an actor?

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.