It’s an important week for ‘The Descendants’- not only is the much anticipated George Clooney drama released this week, but the film has just been nominated for a slew of Oscars, including Best Film, Best Director and Best Actor. It’s likely now that it will be a straight race between this film and ‘The Artist’ in many categories, but is Alexander Payne’s new film a worthy adversary to its stupendous French competitor?
‘The Descendants’ takes place on Hawaii, an island noted for its luxury and paradise-like environment. However, life is far from paradise for Matt King (Clooney), a wealthy businessman more concerned with the expensive land he is trustee of than his family. This all changes, however, when his wife has an accident and goes into a coma, one she is unlikely to wake from. Calling back his unruly teenage daughter (Shailene Woodley) from boarding school, Matt begins to realise he knows very little about his children, or the wife he is about to lose.
This may not sound like ripe grounds for comedy, but in the same way Payne made an alcoholic divorcee hilarious in the wonderful ‘Sideways’, this quirky and thoughtful film never gets too sombre for too long. Payne manages the awful scenario of having to say goodbye to a family member with a lot of awkward but amusing comedy, highlighting the frailties that pervade any family (out-of-control offspring, dark secrets being unveiled), and how complicated life can be when something catches you unaware.
As with most awards movies, the strength is in the casting, and ‘The Descendants’ has two crown jewels in the form of Clooney and Woodley. An odd father-daughter couple on-screen, Woodley matches her illustrious co-star note for note, with the withering looks and cutting put downs both realistic and hilarious. This allows Clooney to, as you may of guessed by now, be absolutely brilliant. As a man who has neglected everything he shouldn’t have in his life, the actor stumbles through the film, never failing to make you smile as he attempts to fight against the torrent of reality hitting him. Of the support, the biggest standout is perhaps Robert Forster and the grumpy and disagreeable father-in-law.
A heart-wrenching climactic scene proves just how much both director and cast have got it right. Maybe the finest performance of Clooney’s acting career (although there’s still time), this family ‘dramedy’ is touching, funny, and memorable.
'The Descendants' is in cinemas now.
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