The Descendants

Descendants Dives and Delivers Delight from Start to Finish
The Descendants, R, *****, George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster. Fox Searchlight film. Director Alexander Payne. 115 minutes.

Watching a great film gives the viewer a feeling of excitement and hope for the future of the depth and originality of the industry of entertainment for movie goers who enjoy creativity, uniqueness, and reality. “The Descendants” is an original story for the audience to appreciate.
With a realistic look at a dysfunctional family that collapses as a result of a tragedy, “The Descendants” makes the grade. Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer in charge of a large Trust Account for big family of which he is part of. A large portion of land is in the hands of Matt.
The land is in Hawaii where the family lives. However, Matt must try to keep a large group of family members happy. The Trust Account does not expire for seven more years. However, the group has been offered a large amount of money for the land. Anyone who has a sentimental value of land from the family knows how much it means to keep it. I personally regret not purchasing the land that belonged to my grandparent’s years ago. I was too young and too foolish, and too much of a free spirit. Now I really regret it. This gives the reader a feel of one portion of this films story.
Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is the wife of Matt King. Matt travels most of the time. He has become emotionally uninvolved with Elizabeth and his two daughters, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller)
Elizabeth has a boating accident, and Matt returns home to look after the teenage Alexandra and the younger Scottie. Alexandra is rebellious and outspoken. Scottie is on the way to being like her older sister.
Elizabeth is in a coma, and her condition is fatal. This is one of the best performances by George Clooney. He has to deal with his wife’s situation, his daughter’s rebellious attitude, and the Trust Account.
To top it all off, he discovers his wife has been cheating on him. As the plot becomes more complicated, it is obvious that Matt has a lot of issues that must be dealt with. Clooney won the Golden Globe Award for best actor in this film, and he is nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor. This is truly an outstanding performance and heart warming story about a family in conflict and grief.
The acting and performances are outstanding in this excellent look at a heartbreaking tragedy with skeletons emerging from the closet. It is funny and heartbreaking at the same time. From teenagers to adults, the audience will observe the differences in attitude and mores. Matt’s father-in-law Scott Thorson (Robert Forster) brings humor and drama to the film. The film touches so many aspects of life for the audience to observe and relate. What is happening in the lives of this family will touch the hearts of the audience. Sid (Nick Krause) is a teenage friend of Alexandra. He is obnoxious, and Scott Thorson gets enough of his smart mouth, and Sid decides to settle down. He does have a good streak in him. It just takes a while to surface.
The film is based on a book by Kaui Hart Hemmings. I recommend this movie for an excellent original story packed with interesting characters and outstanding acting. The originality makes this film interesting, realistic, sad, emotional, and worth viewing. The final scene is absolutely terrific.
I better give the readers a word of caution to anyone who is offended by films with bad language. I overheard viewers talking about the rough language when I was leaving the lobby.