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George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer ... see more see more... , Matthew Lillard , Nick Krause , Robert Forster , Patricia Hastie , Grace A. Cruz , Kim Gennaula , Karen Kuioka Hironaga , Carmen Kaichi , Kaui Hart Hemmings , Matt Corboy , Matt Esecson , Michael Ontkean , Stanton Johnston , Jonathan McManus , Hugh Foster , Tiare R. Finney , Tom McTigue , Milt [Lewis] Kogan , Mary Birdsong , Rob Huebel , Laird Hamilton , Aileen "Boo" Arnold , Esther Kang , Melissa Kim , Barbara Lee Southern , Celia Kenney , Matthew Reese , Zoel Turnbull , Linda Rose Herman , Scott Michael Morgan , Darryl K. Gonzales , Koko Kanealii , Romey "Keola" Yokotake

From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband ... read more read more...and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family's land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries. -- (C) Fox Searchlight

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R, 1 hr. 50 min.

Directed by: Alexander Payne

Release Date: November 18, 2011

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DVD Release Date: March 13, 2012

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Flixster Reviews (6,052)

  • katykern8261
    May 22, 2012
    katykern8261
    Directed (and co-written) by Alexander Payne, Fox Searchlight Pictures, 2011. Starring George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Beau Bridges and Robert Forster.

    Genre: Comedy, Drama

    Question: Can you feel sympathy for a character that neglected or ignored his family ... read morebut then suddenly has to pay attention when thrust back into the responsibility of being a parent? Honestly, you have to answer that one for yourself. For me, I could not. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I don't know but will give you my thoughts on film; and I will let you decide on your own after you see it.

    I went to my first movie theatre screener last night with The Descendants. Since the end of the movie, I have been mulling this story over trying to figure out if I liked it or not. There is a lot of buzz about this movie, specifically about George Clooney and Alexander Payne (who last came out with Sideways, which I loved), so I was really looking forward to this film. However, something fell short for me with the story and its main character.

    The movie started out with panoramic views of Hawaii (some beautiful and some not-so) with Matt King (George Clooney) giving his first narrated monologue. Usually narration kind of annoys me or I think it's overused today but know sometimes it is necessary and beneficial in certain films. For The Descendants it was actually a perfect fit. In fact, the opening narration struck a chord with me. Pay close attention to what he says about living in paradise. From that point I was really enjoying the film and attentive of all introductions of characters and story-lines but somewhere along the way the film sort of lost me.

    I suppose I should back up a little. A brief (very) synopsis of the film. Matt King is a father, husband and lawyer who is the trustee of a large parcel of land in Hawaii that has been in his family's possession for over a 100 years. He is quite wealthy but doesn't spend his inheritance and works all the time for his law practice while pretty much ignoring or neglecting his immediate family. A tragic accident happens to his wife, who ends up in a coma, and things start to unravel for him.

    All of the above is revealed within the first 15 minutes of the movie; and you meet a distraught man who has no idea how to cope with the sudden responsibility of taking care of his daughters. He even reveals "I'm the back-up parent." When I first heard that line in the previews, I thought he and his wife were either separated or divorced. So when I found out differently I had difficulty sympathizing with this character, and in certain scenes it made it even harder to see his plight. Pay attention to his first "talk" with his wife in the hospital. That made me retreat as a spectator and become very cautious, but I waited for some sort of redemption for his character after that.

    That is all I will say about that because I feel I have gone against my norm and revealed a little too much.

    So let me focus on other details for now: George Clooney did an excellent job portraying a man in crisis. He may be one of a handful of actors that can just sit there, silently, but still reveal so much emotion and depth. Don't believe me? Well, watch Michael Clayton, an excellent film, but the last 5 minutes of it proves George Clooney's talent of silent acting. He was brilliant.

    In The Descendants you will see him use that gift again and again. I won't be surprised if he is nominated for many awards for this role. However, I just never developed much sympathy for his character despite what he went through during the movie. Perhaps I just saw his character's arc differently than most, because after the "talk" with his wife and then later there was a scene he shares with the young fellow, who is friends with his daughter, just left me cold. It is all about perception, I suppose. You all may see something different.

    Alexander Payne has created other characters that maybe many don't care for or find a kinship with; but somewhere over the course of the movie you understand them, feel for the character or the character redeems themselves in a pure, honest way. However, in The Descendants, he did not win me over with the main character. Many may disagree with me but that is how I saw it.

    Sorry, this may not be the typical movie review for me or that I may have just changed your mind on seeing the movie. Many reviewers saw the opposite from me; and George Clooney did perform beautifully, so I am not saying don't see it. Just keep an open mind.

    My favorite part: Perhaps I forgot to mention that it is quite funny at parts. I did giggle.

    My least favorite part: Realizing what it takes for some people to fully understand that their neglect really affects others.

    Rating: R
    Length: 115 minutes

    Review: 6 out of 10

    Based on the novel by the same name: The Descendants: A Novel (Random House Movie Tie-In Books)
  • danperry17
    May 16, 2012
    danperry17
    Full review coming soon.
  • CloudStrife84
    May 9, 2012
    CloudStrife84
    Deeply absorbing family drama, beautifully directed by Alexander Payne. This film scored pretty big at the Golden Globes this year and is also nominated for 5 Oscars, including Best Motion Picture and Best Achievement in Directing. What I think is most deserved though, is all the... read more nominations and wins going to its leading man, George Clooney. He excels beyond words (if not the best performance of his entire career), as an abscent father who suddenly is thrown into a maelstrom of emotions, when his wife is hospitalized after a horrible accident. Faced with some tough decitions and two highly distressed daughters, he is pressed to become the responsible parent that his business priorities had previously neglected. Stories of this format are not exactly new, but it's in the details and exquisite acting that this movie goes beyond the norm. It's a little too slow for me to call it great, however I do still consider it one of last year's better dramas. Clooney's narration alone was like reading a really good novel, and it certainly has the soul and drive to be compared to a real page-turner. A meaningful and gripping experience, with superb photography to match. Well worth the view!
  • LWOODS04
    April 26, 2012
    LWOODS04
    Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Nick Krause, Patricia Hastie, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Robert Forster, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel

    Director: Alexander Payne

    Summary: When a tragic boating accident leaves his wife on life support, an afflue... read morent land baron attempts to mend his relationship with his estranged daughters. But he's also trying to decide whether to let go of some valuable family real estate.


    My Thoughts: "It's really a sad depressing story. It's the most honest portrayal George Clooney has ever given in any film. I think this is one of the better films I have seen him in. I was really impressed with Shailene Woodley. This is the first time I've seen her acting, and I thought she was amazing at showing her characters emotions. She made me tear up. But you really feel for Matt King as well. To be grieving for this person and then to find out that they have betrayed you and there is no way of confronting them or getting an explaination of why has to make that much harder. Great acting all around and a great story. I'd love to read the book now after seeing this."
  • fb732260458
    April 22, 2012
    fb732260458
    While The Descendants is definitely not a comedy, it's a deeply depressing film that still manages to provide plenty of avenues for some solid humor and surprise. And the performances are killer... including the completely deglamorized George Clooney. This man can act.
  • jamers2011
    April 14, 2012
    jamers2011
    I loved it...
  • blkbomb
    April 13, 2012
    blkbomb
    Matt King: On the phone he can escape, in person, he's got nowhere to go. I wanna see his face. 

    I think I can finally, definitively say that The Descendants was my absolute favorite movie of 2011. Without seeing The Artist yet, I just can't see me loving it more than this. Not ... read moreonly is The Descendants my favorite movie of 2011, but it's one of the best movies I've seen in recent years. It's amazing on every level. 

    There isn't one thing I didn't absolutely enjoy about this movie. I liked every character, every piece of the story and how the different pieces eventually fit together, and I loved the mixture of serious drama and genuinely funny comedy. This is one of those films where everything works perfectly. Payne puts a few different stories into the film and connects them perfectly. There's the fact that Matt King's wife is in a coma and is going to die. Then he finds out she was having an affair. All this is going on while he's deciding whether to sell the family land in Hawaii. The way it comes together is absolutely brilliant. There is no other way to describe it accurately. The Descendants is beautifully made, and at times is quite moving. 

    When an actor of Clooney's caliber has a performance that is being called the performance of his career, you have to be excited about it. Still, I wasn't really expecting what I saw. I've seen so many Clooney movies, where he is exceptional; that it was hard to believe this one could be his best. Well, he was amazing in ways that can't be described. He gives such a powerful and multileveled performance. He's great in the comedic situations and in the dramatic one, and times he does a good job balancing both at the same time. 

    This is a masterpiece and a must see film. How good it is, is hard to describe exactly. Just watch it and you will understand. 
  • Crashinkov
    April 3, 2012
    Crashinkov
    I guess it's only about George Clooney performing, yes he was so brilliant in the movie, but for the role I think all matt's reacts wasn't making any sense, stupid character.
  • spielberg00
    March 24, 2012
    spielberg00
    Mature cross between tearjerking drama and biting comedy follows the narration of Matt King (George Clooney), a workaholic living in Hawaii. We are told early on that his wife has fallen into a coma from a boating accident, and later that she will not survive. Devastated, Matt ma... read morekes an attempt to connect with his two daughters, 10 and 17. Only to bring him further shock, he is told by his teenage daughter that before her boating accident, his wife was having an affair.

    Most movies have one or two tearjerking scenes, but THE DESCENDANTS tugs at heartstrings from beginning to end. From the moment we hear Matt mention his wife's tragic situation, we have our hearts sinking and become sympathetic. If you're looking for a movie that goes to a superlative level of both the comedy and drama genres, THE DESCENDANTS is for you. If not, I pity you.

    Ranked #4 of 2011.
  • imrealgod
    March 23, 2012
    imrealgod
    Suffers from lack of enough humor, but the remarkable performances help make the act better. Could have been more entertaining.

View All The Descendants Reviews

Critic Reviews

Tom Long
November 23, 2011
Tom Long, Detroit News

One of the year's best films, a bubbly meditation on family and responsibility that weighs just enough to matter. Full Review

Bill Goodykoontz
November 22, 2011
Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic

With so many balls in the air the temptation is to rush from one plot strand to another, but Payne takes the opposite approach. He also captures the complexity of emotional reactions that grief stirs. Full Review

Roger Moore
November 21, 2011
Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel

It's a lovely, heartfelt character study of common, everyday people trapped on the horns of an uncommon but not unheard-of dilemma. Full Review

Anthony Lane
November 20, 2011
Anthony Lane, New Yorker

The latest exhibit in Payne's careful dissection of the beached male, which runs from Matthew Broderick's character in "Election" to Jack Nicholson's in "About Schmidt" and Paul Giamatti's in "Sideways." Full Review

Eric D. Snider
November 19, 2011
Eric D. Snider, Film.com

This mature, well-acted dramatic comedy is deeply satisfying, maybe even cathartic. Full Review

Ann Hornaday
November 18, 2011
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

A tough, tender, observant, exquisitely nuanced portrait of mixed emotions at their most confounding and profound -- all at play within a deliciously damp, un-touristy Hawaii that's at once lush and l... Full Review

Todd McCarthy
November 18, 2011
Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter

A splendid comedy-drama about a father coping with his comatose wife and difficult daughters represents high points for George Clooney and Alexander Payne. Full Review

Liam Lacey
November 18, 2011
Liam Lacey, Globe and Mail

Payne has always tended to look at society from the perspective of a curious, puzzled alien, but now the alien has grown moist-eyed and affectionate. Full Review

Lisa Kennedy
November 18, 2011
Lisa Kennedy, Denver Post

[Clooney] is a movie star who can't shake (and doesn't want to, one suspects) the baggage of that good fortune, yet consistently works to blend into the ensemble for the sake of story. The Descendants... Full Review

Mick LaSalle
November 17, 2011
Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

It's more straightforward and sentimental than most Payne films, and at times it lands very close to sitcom territory. But it also has scenes as wrenching and as true as any onscreen this year. Full Review

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Facts

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    • Kai Mitchell: Matt, you're angry.
    • Matt King: You have very keen powers of observation.
    • Scott Thorson: I am going to hit you.
    • Matt King: My friends on the mainland think just because I leave in Hawaii, I live in paradise, like a permanent vacation. We're all just out here, sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, catching waves. Are they insane? Do they think we are immune to life? How can they possibly think our famalies are less screwed up, our cancers less fatal, our heartache less painful?
    • Scottie King: Some photographer lady took pictures of her mom in the hospital while she was dying and they are considered art.
    • Matt King: A family seems exactly like an archipelago. All part of the same whole, but still seperate and alone and always drifting slowly apart.
    • Matt King: You little fuck. Do you get hit a lot?
    • Sid: I don't know. I've had my share.
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  • True or false: In the film Braveheart, many of the living descendants of William Wallace were used as extras in the film's epic battle sequences.  Answer »
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  • in the covenant, how many descendants of the ipswitch brothers survived the salem witch hunt?  Answer »
  • In what movie must Harry and Ron fight for their lives against the descendants of Aragog?   Answer »
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