Written by Markus Robinson, Edited by Nicole I. Ashland
Markus Rating: 2 out of 5 Stars
Rated R for language including some sexual references
Is this really the type of melodramatic Lifetime Network film that Clooney is getting all of that critical acclaim for?! “The Descendents”, directed by Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt) and starring George Clooney (Up in the Air) as a neglectful father who is attempting to reconnect with his two daughters after a boating accident leaves his wife in a coma, begins as a film with the highest of potentials, but in no time is whittled down into a forgettable mess of a movie. I really don’t know were to begin with this film because even with Clooney’s average performance aside (far from deserving a second glance) this film is all over the place, with a director that seems to have little control of the mood, a script (co-written by Payne) which is filled with tons of underdeveloped characters that spew some of the most random dialogue, and a storyline which treats a complex subject matter with a paint-by-numbers mentality. But worst of all is how astonishingly horrid of a job Payne does of balancing the laid back Hawaiian humor with the dismal themes of cheating and death. Don’t get me wrong, “The Descendents” does contain some funny and playful scenes, but every last one of them is followed by a scene of a grown man sobbing over the idea of his wife cheating on him or a scene of a paralyzed woman in a coma, literally dying before our eyes. And as Payne carelessly jerks the audience through the film’s emotional highs and lows, the end result will be a confused audience that will have no clue how to react to anything they have just seen; and not in an artsy way, but in an awkward way. All in all, “The Descendents” may have been an above average film if not for the intense emotional imbalance of it.
Now on to the storyline of a movie where the entire point seems to be that Hawaii is just as miserable as the rest of the United States; GOODY. A hardworking lawyer named Matt King and landowner of a rather large and untouched portion of Hawaii must become more of a father to his two daughters, when his wife is involved in a boating accident which leaves her in a coma with little hope of recovery. And to make matters worse, his teenage daughter informs Matt that his wife of many years has been cheating on him. From that point on the plot is quite simple as Matt and his daughters must go around Hawaii and inform the rest of the family of the waning health of his wife. This “road-trip” plotline does leave room for some spectacular shots of Hawaii’s breathtaking scenery (if that means anything to anybody) but the performances are so bland and unappealing and we are continuously bludgeoned over the head with a quite aggressive Hawaiian soundtrack throughout this “adventure”, that it is very hard to get anything out of these particular scenes. But it is the overall storyline which is handled extremely poor. So poorly that I really don’t believe audiences are allowed to get a handle of a single emotional tone (and there are many in this film) resulting in an unfortunate disconnect with the characters on screen. I don’t possibly know how Payne could make me feel disinterested in a seemingly rich character like Matt King, that has to raise two daughters on his own, all while telling family members of his wife’s impending death and while dealing with his wife’s infidelity, but he succeeds in his odd venture because I didn’t care about this man’s plight AT ALL! It is important to note that “The Descendants” does contain two (count them) heartfelt moments through the latter half of this film, BUT by this time, you would have made your decision on whether you are flippant about “The Descendants” as a film or unfortunately bought into this poorly directed, made-for-television piece of…entertainment.
Hawaii is a beautiful place (no duh!): As I alluded to prior, the cinematography throughout most of this film is spectacular! Well come on, its Hawaii for God sakes; a place that is very difficult to present as otherwise. The scenery is at times (at many times) far more interesting than the activities of any of the characters on the screen. In fact, the only reason “The Descendents” was saved from the humiliation of getting a Markus Rating of one star was because it really looked as if at least one person in this production team cared about this films visual presentation.
Final Thought: There is a way to do a film about serious subject matters and still inject some humor; I have seen it done before (in fact, in other Alexander Payne films). But with “The Descendents”, Payne totally missed the mark. Walking out of this film I had no idea if this was supposed to be a comedy or a tragedy because many of the tragic moments were filled with insensitive jokes and many of the comedic moments were met with awkward silence. Let me put it this way, if Payne hit the proverbial comedic-drama bull’s-eye with “Sideways”, then one could say that with “The Descendants” Payne is playing darts in a room without a dartboard to be found. In fact, I don’t even think he is playing with darts at all. And as for the acting, I will only be discussing Clooney here because (lets be real) nobody cares about any of the other actors in this “movie” (in fact, they really don’t give us a reason to). I don’t get it. Clooney has been touted as overrated throughout his career and is being hailed for his performance in “The Descendents”?! Why?! I mean, he isn’t bad here, but he is far from magnetic. Forgettable is the proper adjective I would use for this performance. Furthermore, Clooney has been ten times better in ten other films (at least), all of which have garnered him little recognition. So I will leave you with this, if you wish to see a really good Clooney performance rent “The American” or “Up in the Air”, but stay away from “The Descendants”.
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