The Descendants

Plenty of plaudits for Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, but this isn’t a particularly memorable film nor, by a long shot (despite the notices), is this George Clooney’s best performance. If you’re used to Payne’s style of filmmaking then this doesn’t stray from his usual template. Fine if you’re a fan, but this is highly indulgent stuff, not helped by the consumer unfriendly lengthy running time. I picked at least four 5 minute scenes that could have bit the dirt in the editing room. Not that The Academy agreed though as Payne won the Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for this. Yet more evidence of the Oscars now almost being beyond parody. Anyway, what this screenplay does have is Matt King (Clooney), a Hawaiian land baron who has a major decision to make regarding a sizeable area of land that has been in his family for a number of years. King has a more major concern on his mind though, that being his wife, laid up in hospital following a boating accident. This means King also has to build bridges with his two young daughters. Things get a bit more complex though when King also discovers that his wife has been having an affair. Yep, all present and correct…it’s the Alexander Payne dysfunctional family! OK, mocking aside, this does have some decent comic moments as King goes on the prowl for the man that his wife was seeing. It’s fair to say as well that Clooney has to pretty much carry this film on his shoulders in terms of audience sympathy as virtually all of the other characters are somewhat unlikeable (though Beau Bridges surprisingly pops up with a decent cameo). It doesn’t need me to tell you that Clooney is good here as he’s been solid for years now, though he appears hamstrung by Payne’s screenplay which doesn’t seem to be able to decide just what emotions King is meant to be going through. I’d say this is definitely for Payne fans only, but he does help out the US Tourist Board as, not only did he film on location, he makes the Hawaiian way of living look as chilled out as a weekend spent wine tasting in Santa Barbara. Yes, that is purposely a nod to Sideways, as that film was seven years ago now and, though The Descendants isn’t without its merits, Payne’s hallmark of quality seems very distant indeed.

The OC Film Sting Final Verdict
Standard Payne and standard Clooney equals standard film. Rating: 6/10.