The Descendants (With Digital Copy)

I enjoyed this, but it hardly ranks as a great film, as all the hype suggests. Brilliantly played by the cast, esp Clooney, it's funny, touching & sad in all the right places, but it just lacks something.

George Clooney gives one of his best performances in the Dromady as a father who has to re-connect with his two daughters when his wife has a boating accident and is put into a coma. To make matters worse he also finds out that she was also cheating behind his back and so Clooney and his two daughters have to struggle to comes to terms with the loss they must face and confront the man his comatosed wife was having a fling with and why.
What grabs you about this film is how well it's acted, the characters feel real and although the pace of the film is slow it's the well written characters and all to true situations that draws you into the story.
It's a wry, intelligent look at the contradictions and complexities of human emotions. And the cast is exemplary, down to the smallest role. Clooney convinces as a man tussling with all the intimate issues he's spent half his life steering well clear of, and finding himself near breaking point. As Alexandra, Shailene Woodley shines, initially just another bratty, resentful teenager, she soon matures to the point where she's acting as supportive parent to her own bewildered dad. There are telling cameos from Robert Forster, bristling with anger as Clooney's father in law. Beau Bridges as the most affable and avaricious of the cousins and of course, there's Hawaii. Despite Clooney's disenchanted tirade of his loathing for the islands the film doesn't shy away from showing us the islands overwhelming beauty or the tourist tackiness that blights them.
The film is heart warming, funny and sad as anyone who has watched a loved one slip away and there's nothing to do than sit back, watch and take it like a bitter pill will fully appreciate this well written character study as this movie is a wryly compassionate vision of human fallibility superbly anchored by one of Clooney's strongest performances.

George Clooney gives one of his best performances in the Dromady as a father who has to re-connect with his two daughters when his wife has a boating accident and is put into a coma. To make matters worse he also finds out that she was also cheating behind his back and so Clooney and his two daughters have to struggle to comes to terms with the loss they must face and confront the man his comatosed wife was having a fling with and why.
What grabs you about this film is how well it's acted, the characters feel real and although the pace of the film is slow it's the well written characters and all to true situations that draws you into the story.
It's a wry, intelligent look at the contradictions and complexities of human emotions. And the cast is exemplary, down to the smallest role. Clooney convinces as a man tussling with all the intimate issues he's spent half his life steering well clear of, and finding himself near breaking point. As Alexandra, Shailene Woodley shines, initially just another bratty, resentful teenager, she soon matures to the point where she's acting as supportive parent to her own bewildered dad. There are telling cameos from Robert Forster, bristling with anger as Clooney's father in law. Beau Bridges as the most affable and avaricious of the cousins and of course, there's Hawaii. Despite Clooney's disenchanted tirade of his loathing for the islands the film doesn't shy away from showing us the islands overwhelming beauty or the tourist tackiness that blights them.
The film is heart warming, funny and sad as anyone who has watched a loved one slip away and there's nothing to do than sit back, watch and take it like a bitter pill will fully appreciate this well written character study as this movie is a wryly compassionate vision of human fallibility superbly anchored by one of Clooney's strongest performances.

I must say I watch a lot of films and this one has got to be the best I have seen this year , Clooney shines as do the two young actresses with him, well worth a watch .

I really liked Sideways and Loved About Schmidt. Alexander Payne's films can be a bit slow, but they garner excellent performances from the actors and there is normally some really good humour into the bargain too. While the acting in this is very good, it was unbelievably boring. You had Paul Giamati and Thomas Haden Church in Sideways combining brilliantly and Jack Nicholson with a stunning performance as a cold hearted widower in About Schmidt. In The Decendants you have George Clooney as a cheated husband trying to connect with his two daughters as his wife lays in a coma after a boating accident. The slowness of the film is not permeatated with enough laughs, twists or development of character. I only give it 2 stars due to the fine acting. The script and the plot is the problem here and Clooney's excellent performance can do nothing to make this film interesting. It is like being in a coma.