The Descendants (2011)

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Overview

The Descendants is a comedy-drama starring George Clooney and based upon the novel of the same name Kaui Hart Hemmings. Directed by Alexander Payne as his first film in seven years, it follows the journey of Matt King and his two daughters and wife as he has to re-examine his own past and make a decision about his future.

Plot Summary

The film opens to a speedboat racing by off the coast of Hawaii as credits roll and Matt King narrates. He is a wealthy and successful lawyer from a family of the once royalty of Hawaii and white missionaries who came to the island. He lives in a home sitting on 25,000 acres on the island Kaua'i that once belonged to his ancestors. The home has been passed down form generation to generation and he is the sole trustee of the land which but the trust will expire in seven years. The family makes the decision to sell the land to a development company but when things are about to be finalized and signed, his wife suffers a boating accident and is rendered comatose. He explains to his friends on the mainland that the only paradise he lives in a is a "paradise" of waiting by his wife's bedside in hopes that she can recover from her injuries and eventually wake up from the coma.

Together they have two kids, daughters: 10 year old Scottie and 17 year old Alex. Alex attends a boarding on the big island and Matt is not very close with either. He admits to being their "back-up" parent. With his wife in a coma in the hospital he has to deal with their problems, Scottie's swearing and bullying and Alex's alcohol problem. He learns his wife won't be coming out of the coma as he had hoped and tells Alex but not Scottie. He tells they'll need to travel and tell their friends and relatives of the news. Alex refuses though and tells her father that her mother was having an affair with another man at the time of the accident.

Matt and the gang

Shaken by it he runs to his two friends Kai and Mark to find out whether or not Alex told him was true. He angrily then berates Kai for not being forthcoming and tells her his wife will be taken off life support. She begins to cry and Matt leaves. Mark then steps outside with Matt and tells him that Elizabeth's lover's name was Brian Speer. Upon hearing that his wife was cheating on him, he begins to cry. When he returns home he tells Alex to pack for their grandparents and is surprised to find Alex has a visitor at home- a boy named Sid. She insists that he come on their trip to their grandparents and Matt not wanting to put his daughter through any more grief reluctantly allows Sid to come along. Later on their way home from his in-laws house, Matt spots a real estate sign with a picture of Brian Speer on it. Matt calls the number on the sign and finds out that Speer is on vacation in Kaua'i.

After a few days of rest and bonding with his kids, Matt decides to take a morning jog and while jogging passes a man he realizes is Brian Speer. Desperately wanting to find more out about Speer, Matt tails him home to a cottage where he finds Speer is married and even has two kids of his own. It turns out that Matt's cousin Hughes is the owner of the cottage and after to speaking with Speer's wife Julie about her husband's infidelity; Matt talks to his cousin who tells him that if he decides to sell his land to Don Hollitzer (who is Brian's brother in-law) as planned, then Speer will be the one who benefits from that sale. Shocked by the news, Matt decides it's time to confront Speer and talks with him outside his cottage.

He introduces himself to Speer as Elizabeth's husband and tells him that he has no intention of causing him or his family any harm and that Elizabeth is going to die in a few days and that he wants Speer to be able to have a chance to say goodbye. He asks Brian if Elizabeth ever told him she loved him to which he nods yes to. To Matt it seems that Brian was just using Elizabeth to get close to him as he was the sole trustee for the land and if it was sold, Speer would gain untold amounts of money. As he leaves Brian's cottage, he spontaneously kisses Speer's wife Julie before leaving. He and his family then board a plane back to Hawaii and acknowledges that his youngest daughter Scottie is still unaware that her mother is dying. Returning home, Matt meets with his cousins and Hugh to vote to sell the house although the decision ultimately lies with Matt. Like he expected to happen, the majority vote to sell the land to Don Hollitzer. As he is about to sign the papers, Matt realizes he can't sell the land and decides not to sign. The whole family then goes to hospital to see Elizabeth one last time and even a surprise visitor shows up. The visitor is none other than Brian Speer's wife Julie who is now fully aware that her husband was indeed cheating on her. Julie says to Elizabeth that she forgives her even though she wants to hate her for destroying her family and her marriage. Matt tells Julie to leave and Alex and Scottie both then say their final goodbyes to their mother. With a tears rolling down his face, Matt kisses Elizabeth one last time and says "goodbye my love, my friend, my pain, my joy, goodbye". Some time later he and his daughters are in a small boat as they scatter Elizabeth's ashes into the ocean.

Reception

Like George Clooney's other film in 2011-The Ides of March, the Descendants received widespread critical acclaim. Out of 166 reviews, the film garnered a 90% approval rate from critics on Rotten Tomatoes and an 85% approval rate from audiences out of 10,391 ratings. The general consensus for the film was "Funny, moving, and beautifully acted, The Descendants captures the unpredictable messiness of life with eloquence and uncommon grace". Noted film critic Roger Ebert gave the film four (out of four) stars and said "We get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies. We come to understand how they think and care about what they decide". Though Richard Corliss of TIME Magazine was less impressed by the film saying " I'm a notorious softie, and I found things to like about the film, most particularly Clooney's performance; but I remained untouched". Other critics like Phil Hall of Film Threat were even more negative about the film stating The Descendants was "A dismal cacophony of turgid emotion and lame comedy".