The Descendants is a study of bereavement that is tragic at times; but very, very funny at others: I expect the movie to receive several Oscar nods.
Shot on location in Hawaii, we are reminded by the narrator that those who are under the impression that all the inhabitants of the state are living in some type of utopia are grossly mistaken. Hawaiians suffer the same misfortunes that many Americans do: unemployment, poverty, starvation, infidelities, grief… and inevitably death. With that in mind we zero in on our protagonist Matt King (George Clooney), who may not be the pall bearer of poverty; but nonetheless, is the unfortunate recipient of infidelity, grief, and death.
King is a lawyer, descendant, and key trust holder of a royal Hawaiian family which owns a large track of land (25,000 acres) on the island of Kauai and is about to pull the trigger on a billion dollar commercial land development deal. But Mr. King has other things on his mind. His wife has been severely injured from a speed boating accident and lies hospitalized in a coma. When the doctor tells King that his is wife will not recover and that goodbyes should be said before the plug is pulled, his first move is to round up his teenage daughter (Shailene Woodley) from boarding school. If things aren’t bad enough, our protagonist finds out from his rancorous daughter that his wife had been cheating on him with some local real estate freak who was squirming his way into the trust deal and that divorce was part of the grand scheme.
I don’t like giving out the entire plot and I like to keep these reviews brief; otherwise people would not read them. What I can tell you is this: George Clooney has become an excellent actor and this is one of his finest roles. His understated and comedic abilities seem to be fermenting like a fine wine, and although this seems like a big time tearjerker, and at times it is, there are some hilarious moments in the movie (especially between Clooney and his daughter’s boyfriend). You will laugh more than you cry. See it!
My rating: 5 of 5 alohas.