George Clooney delivers Oscar-worthy performance in 'The Descendants'
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With so many heavy hitters still to come, it's too early to single out a movie as the No. 1 of 2011.
But "The Descendants" is the best I've seen this year, and it could win George Clooney a best actor Oscar to go with his "Syriana" supporting statuette. It manages to move from tragedy to comedy to drama like a champion swimmer executing a flip turn at the wall and reversing direction.
Directed and co-written by Alexander Payne, "The Descendants" features Mr. Clooney as Matt King, a native Hawaiian, real estate lawyer, husband and father who considered himself the "back-up parent, the understudy." But when his wife, Elizabeth, was gravely injured in a speedboat accident, he was pushed onto the stage without warning.
- Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller.
- Rating: R for language including some sexual references.
As the movie opens, his wife lies in a coma, and he is bewildered by their daughters, Alex (Shailene Woodley), a 17-year-old with a wild streak, and headstrong 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller), who regularly leaves a small trail of trouble in her wake.
If this weren't enough, Alex shares a disturbing secret about her mother, and Matt and his relatives are weighing offers on 25,000 acres of pristine land inherited from ancestors who date to Hawaiian conqueror and King Kamehameha.
Matt must try to prepare Elizabeth's friends and parents, including her sweet, confused mother, for her death. He may live in "paradise," but he is stranded in a twilight zone of broken assumptions about his marriage and facing an uncharted future.
As his wife spends another day motionless, he thinks, "I'm ready to talk, I'm ready to change," but it may be too late. It's not too late to connect with his girls or his roots and choose wisely when it comes to the precious parcel coveted by developers. The role of descendant weighs heavily on him, just as he must pave the way for those who will come after him.
"The Descendants" is funny, sad and wonderfully acted and features Hawaiian backdrops and music in a way that's as fresh as just harvested pineapple. Its theme about family makes it a perfect, although R-rated, holiday movie.
It's based on the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings, who grew up in Hawaii and lives there with her husband and children. This was the first novel for the short story writer.
First Published November 23, 2011 12:00 am
