Ad Hominem Enterprises
George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Robert Forster, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel
Matt King is a real estate lawyer in Hawaii. His family is descended from Hawaiian royalty, and owns a great deal of land that is very valuable. It has been left to a trust which Matt has sole proprietorship of, even though the land belongs to lots of cousins as well as him. They family is deciding whom to sell the land to, but it is Matt’s final decision. But Matt’s wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) has been severely injured in a power boat accident and is in a coma. Matt is told that there is no hope for her to come out of it, and her advanced directive forbids life support. Matt has two daughters, Scottie (Amara Miller) who is 10 and Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) who is in and exclusive high school. While trying to bring the relatives and children home to say goodbye to Elizabeth before they pull the plug, Alex lets Matt know that Elizabeth was having an affair. Matt tracks it down and finds out it’s a real estate agent who is looking to strike it rich. The whole family is trying to deal with their grief while dealing with all the other issues going on.
This is a really deep film. It’s extremely good, and has a great deal of drama. Matt has a lot to deal with with the pending sale of their inherited property, trying to raise two teen daughters that he hardly knows, and dealing with family and in-laws who want to blame him, as well as dealing with his wife’s unfaithfulness and what that means now that she’s about to die. It is absolutely beautiful with the gorgeous Hawaiian scenery on several islands. It’s also a lot to take in and deal with as we see the emotions from all sides of the multiple tragedies.
I really enjoyed this film. The theater was fairly well full, yet it was quiet as a mouse through the whole film. There is so much power in the messages of this film, that people sat quietly and listened to every word. This is probably the best film I’ve seen with George Clooney, although I did love him in The Perfect Storm. But this one was very, very good. I just heard that the LA Critics awarded this film their best picture nod. There’s not doubt to me that it’ll appear on the Oscar lists as well, as it’s an excellent film, well acted, well directed, and well written. This is a serious drama film, with a touch of humor, but very, very good. I highly recommend catching this one!
EdG – EdsReview Dot Com – A Movie Review Blog
Movie Review - The Descendants (2011) {R},
