Alexander Payne seems to like the dark comedy: Election, About Schimdt, and now the Descendants (in my estimation, I think Sideways is sort of dark, but the lighter of all of these). George Clooney plays Matt King, a lawyer and a descendent of Hawaiian royalty and the entrustee of a large amount of land. The movie starts with his wife getting into a boating accident and falling into a coma. He then find outs through his daughter, Alexandra King, played by Shailene Woodley, that his wife had been cheating on him. The basic plot of the film is that Matt King seeks his wife’s lover and needs to make a decision to turn the property into commercial real estate and make a ton of money or to leave it alone and make nothing. George Clooney once again plays George Clooney. I read online last night someone’s opinion that he should have won for Michael Clayton or Up in the Air, but not this film. What was the difference? Other than O Brother Where art Thou, it’s hard to imagine him playing anything other than George Clooney-George Clooney, the hit man; George Clooney, the lawyer; George Clooney, the guy who fires people. Shailene Woodley is a knockout and carries as much weight as he does. The movie’s subtle theme I think will attract the same environmentalists that were wooed by Avatar’s “don’t kill the tree of life” message. Yes, we are all descendants and we should all value the land as the indigenous people of Hawaii did-we get it. There really isn’t any mystery as what Matt King will do by the end of the film. The movie has its funny parts but is mostly flat.
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