The Descendants

UK Release Date. 27 January 2012
Certification. 15
Running Time. 1 hour 55 mins
Director. Alexander Payne
Cast. George Clooney, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Nick Krause, Matthew Lillard, Amara Miller, Shailene Woodley.
Rating. 60%

Review.

In Alexander Payne's The Descendants the director has forgone the earlier road-trip crisis trope of About Schmidt and Sideways and parked the overwhelming masculinity malaise of his main characters.

Instead, The Descendants offers Hawaiian lawyer and property developer Matt King (George Clooney) who is presiding over the sale of his family's last parcel of land. His life is turned upside down by an accident that leaves his wife (Patricia Hastie) in an irreversible coma. The distant father is immediately forced to become a single parent to his two dysfunctional daughters. A role he is far from equipped to handle... as he says, "I'm the backup parent. The understudy."

Whilst the film is set in Hawaii, Payne is determined to show paradise as it's experienced by the people who actually live there. As Matt's disdainful opening narration explains,

"My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live in paradise. Like a permanent vacation - we're all just out here sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips and catching waves. Are they insane? Do they think we're immune to life? How can they possibly think our families are less screwed-up, our cancers less fatal, our heartaches less painful? Hell, I haven't been on a surfboard in 15 years."

Thus continuing a common feature of Alexander Payne films - the banal lived-in quality of the setting.

One of the main problems with the film is that no sooner than the premise is established than the emotional chasm, so much of the pain on which the film is premised, simply vanishes into thin air. The girls' emotional problems with their father - including some potentially serious drink and drug issues for Alex (Shailene Woodley) - dissipate when the plot demands it.

There is a degree of complexity to the storyline and while there is a lot going on emotionally, Payne ensures everything feels genuine and authentic. The director has a talent for unearthing comedy in the most unlikely of places, and so it proves with The Descendants.

Payne draws a fine performance from George Clooney. The actor imparts some genuine soul into the conflicted, angry and grieving husband. By dialling down his ubiquitous charm Clooney delivers a more nuanced performance that allows his daughters to shine. One is the impressionable 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) and the other is the angry, bitter and irreverent 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley). Each reveals depth beneath the precocious brat and rebellious teen archetypes.

In many ways, Woodley snatches the film from Clooney, and not just because it's her character who ultimately drives the plot. "Did you just spank me?" she hisses at her father after one ill-advised attempt at discipline. Her reaction is on the nose - somewhere between incredulity and outrage. Woodley gives a standout performance, even if her character arc stifles any evolution as her relationship with her father supposedly grows stronger. 

There's a lot to like about The Descendants. A lovely textured film, it shows glimpses of greatness but falters when it unsuccessfully tries to fuse physical comedy with the sobriety of a character study.