Only in February and I've already undertaken my third double feature at the cinema. Yep, time for another current movie review, with the second to follow later this week. But what did I see first? Well, since Shame and My Week With Marilyn both are in limited release (see my second blog from last week for my thoughts on that development), I went with my back-up option. That doesn't mean I thought this movie was going to suck, or else I wouldn't have seen it, it just wasn't something I was hyped for. If I didn't think it was worth watching on the big screen, I'd have held off until DVD (like I will for Man On A Ledge, which is really more of a space filler in case I fail to reach 50 releases in 2012, which is my goal. If I don't have to see it this year, no big loss. If I do, I'll wait until I can get it cheap).
Anyway, let's get right into The Descendants, based on the book written by Kaui Hart Hemmings.
Matt King (George Clooney) has a lot on his mind: he is the trustee of a huge amount of land that has belonged to his family for generations and needs to sell it, due to a law dealing with perpetuities, and faces huge pressure from his family to go a certain way. But he has a more pressing matter, with his wife, Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), in a coma that she will not wake up from (that is NOT a spoiler, you find out within the first twenty minutes) and he has to figure out how to tell his two kids, little Scottie (Amara Miller) and teenage wild child Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), as well as deal with the revelation that she was having an affair.
I understand that this film is quite the critical darling and is up for several Academy Awards. So, I have to ask: is there something I'm not seeing? I mean, it's not a bad film, it has a few things in its favour but is this really Best Picture material? Why? Because it's based on a book? Because of the shots of Hawaii? Can someone please tell me why?!
But I'm getting ahead of myself. There are good aspects to this film, the stuff that perhaps lead to the nominations. George Clooney's never been a favourite actor of mine, mostly due to Batman And Robin and how people gush over his looks. While that last part may not have anything to do with his acting ability, it overshadows everything else he has to offer. Same goes for Brad Pitt but not for Johnny Depp because he defies the fanbase that constantly raves about “he is so hot” and such and chooses better roles to help solidify his credibility. Clooney, for a while, couldn't do that. There's an episode of American Dad! Called “Tears Of A Clooney”, which, for a while, captured my feelings accurately. I won't go into a recap here since that would just stretch the blog out a little more but I will say even after seeing more of Clooney's work and my opinion of him changing, it's still one of my absolute favourite episodes of the series.
But anyway, what I'm trying to say is, in the right hands, he's capable of toning down the smugness and being really good. The movies he's done with Coen brothers, for example, show what happens when he applies himself. And in this movie, you can actually relate to his character, somewhat. Often looking disheveled and struggling to juggle everything, there's no falling back on his “killer good looks” here. He hits the right emotive spots, and his anger is especially believable. Despite calling himself the “back-up parent”, he's not comically out of touch with his kids, or incredibly stupid, just astounded by how the kids of today act (that's how I relate to him, anyway. I swear I'm a rocking chair away from telling kids to get off lawns and talking about how music was better in my day). He is the best thing about this movie, so at least I can see why he got nominated for Best Actor for this film.
Another good point: the soundtrack is nice and lovely, fits in well with the Hawaiian setting. Considering the shots of the islands and dialogue about the people of Hawaii, the music goes hand in hand. Having anything else would seem jarring.
But... the film has two big problems. Since one is a spoiler, we'll save that till later. The first big problem comes with the supporting cast and some of the main characters. I will say that some actors and actresses are deserving of praise (Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Robert Forster), some don't do much but they do well with little they have (Beau Bridges), some are passable (Amara Miller, Shailene Woodley in the second half) and some... why are they here? I speak mostly of Nick Krause as Sid, Alexandra's useless friend/boyfriend. I don't know what he was like in the book (if he was even in the book) but I hated him from the first time he spoke, since he had the whole “Whoa, dude, I'm like a California surfer!” style of speech. He almost always has a dopey grin on his face and he says whatever's on his mind, without tact or much thought at all. Some of the best moments in the film are when people insult him or when Forster's character punches him. I was WAITING for someone to do that and I cheered when it happened. At one point, he's listing off what he thinks are his best traits and he says something like “And I always have good weed”. Oh that explains so much about you, twit. And why does Matt still let him hang around his 17 year old daughter after Sid mentions the weed like it's an accomplishment on par with medical training?
And early on, Alexandra's not easy to like either, being a typical “wah, my parents don't love me so I'll drink and do drugs and I've probably had sex by now” brat. I hate kids like that. You ever stop and think that maybe they did love you but if they ever truly stopped, it was BECAUSE of how you were acting? It's not that their lack of love causes your behaviour, it's your behaviour destroying their love. And that's not even true in her case, things are just tense. She grows a little, though, but it's still a little hard to like her at first.
But what bugs me the most is what I got from the ending. As such, I will do a new paragraph so that if you want to get to the final thoughts, skip these upcoming spoilers (if you can call them that).
As the life support for Elizabeth is being shut off (per her wishes), the wife of the man she had an affair with (Judy Greer playing the wife) comes to see her on behalf of her husband as a sense of closure and says she forgives Elizabeth for what has transpired. That's fine, she's been dealt this major revelation and she needs to stay strong for her family, even though she doesn't know what the future holds from there. Matt also seems forgiving of her transgressions and kisses her on the forehead, saying nothing but sweet things.
Here's my problem: never mind how angry he was about the affair and the fact that she was going to ask for a divorce, the fact that he's at peace by the end just kind of pisses me off. Yes, I know that he's come to terms with things and he's had time to process, but among his last words to her, he says “My joy”. Except that she was going to leave him. So, you mean to say you've forgiven her? But you don't know how long she's been planning to leave you. How do you know she's been happy all that time? Maybe she's been faking it, for the sake of happy families. And when you look at that, wouldn't it put all your memories into question? Some of them are probably tainted now, its like one of those TV shows or movies with someone falling for someone or pretending to fall for someone for some plan, and when it's all revealed, the other person asks “Was it all a lie?” Actually, an episode of Prison Break's second season had a character ask another that question, or at least the opposite of “Was any of it real?” (OK, the answer in that case was along the lines of “Yes, it was all real”).
My point is, how much of that joy she brought you was real and how much was for the masquerade? To forgive her after all that just doesn't ring true. I don't care if they're your final moments with her, she has denied you the truth. You will always be wondering what was going through her head. Her final acts have brought nothing but anger and depression. She should not have been forgiven so easily.
I'm sorry but after going through something similar myself, maybe I'm just blinded by my own rage on the subject. But even so, doesn't change the fact that the questions linger, with the answers always eluding Matt.
Despite all that, it is a good film but over-hyped. I give it 3/5. Though, one last thing: what's with the title? I mean, we're all someone's descendants. That's like saying “The Children Of People Who Owned Some Land”. I mean, In Good Company's not called “The Boss' Daughter With Some Guy”, just as Wonder Boys isn't “Old Professor Muses On Life With Other People”. I know I'm saturating the point but the title is lacking. Even if I know what its referring to, it bares little to know relevance with the main story and with that “The”, it makes it sound definitive, like there's something ominous about the whole thing. If I were to come up with another title, what about “All The Money In The World”, which would reflect on how even with how rich Matt is, he can't buy anything that will bring his wife out of her coma or buy closure to anything the movie throws at him.
OK, may not be the best choice but it's still something. And “The Back-Up Parent” sounds more like a wacky comedy, so that's out. The search continues...
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