One of the most poignant films I have seen in a decade. It concerns a man, Matt King, as he brings his family together following his wife's accident and hospital stay.
The 'descendants' as told in the title refer to the descendants of a Hawaiian princess and the son of a missionary. They consist of a group of many cousins who have inherited a large piece of land on Kauai. The majority of the cousins, who were spoiled and have squandered the wealth, look forward to selling this land to a developer. However, the others do not want to sell and keep the land for Hawaii and not commercialize it. The decision rests with Matt King, who has been entrusted with the land.
Matt King, who was portrayed by George Clooney, and his wife had not been speaking for three days when she had her accident. She was thrown from a powerboat while it was going too fast. She is in a coma and not expected to make it. Their younger daughter is acting out because of it and the older daughter is furious at the mother for reasons yet unknown.
Their mother is the kind of person I wouldn't miss. She clearly only married her husband for his inheritance money. He never uses the money, and lives off of what he makes in his law practice. He has seen his cousins waste their money and does not want his children to be spoiled. His wife is interested in partying, shopping, and thrill sports. That's how she got injured in the first place, by being in a dangerous situation just for a thrill. And we learn the reason why the older daughter is so mad - she caught her with another man. So not only is she taking all her husband's money and wanting him to spend his inheritance on her as well, she's sleeping around. What a fucking twat full stop.
The scenery of the Hawaiian landscape was beautiful as well as the interiors of the houses. I really liked the houses. Acting was superb, with the exception of Judy Greer, who couldn't act her way out of a paper bag. I cringed every moment she had screen time. Overall the movie gets an 8/10.
I love Alexander Payne, the director. One of my favorite things about him is his sense of locations - you mentioned the landscapes, but also the interiors of the houses. I had a chance to meet Payne and actually talk to him (ever so briefly, yah, that night was AWESOME!!!), and I commented on his locations. He always uses real places, houses, parks, etc. whenever he can because, in his own words, he doesn't understand Hollywood's need to "prettify" things beyond necessity. That, and his sense of poignancy, as you rightly say, are my favorite things about him. His movies are definitely HIS.
ReplyDeleteThe beauty of the locations is what ties the whole film together. It's neat how you got to meet the director!
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