Movie Review: The Descendants

If the Oscars (or moviegoers) are looking to take the family tearjerker route this season, The Descendants is an obvious choice.  Not only does it star George Clooney who, let's face it, is wonderful in just about everything, but it tells a genuinely compelling and heartfelt story, tragic without veering into melodrama. 

The story centers on George Clooney's character Matt, whose wife has slipped into an irreversible coma after an accident, and who must also make a huge decision which will have a life-changing impact on both his career and his family.  This of course, is made no easier by his rebellious teenage daughter (played by the surprisingly fabulous Shailene Woodley, who I'll get to in a minute), his rebellious younger daughter, and the small revelation that his wife has been carrying on an affair behind his back.  Cue a family journey (both literal and metaphorical) that is at times wacky and a times truly heartbreaking, as Matt and his daughters set out to try and locate his wife's paramour while simultaneously trying to navigate the arrangements surrounding her impending death.

Cynical as it may sound to say, I find that many films or television shows involving someone in a coma (and most especially anything featuring scenes of characters talking to the person in a coma), has about a 95% chance of coming off completely cliche and ridiculous.  This film somehow manages to subvert that, and in spectacular fashion.  By the time Matt actually makes it to his wife's bedside,  there is a tension that has accumulated which can't be relieved in any other manner.  The film's final scenes provide an extremely powerful catharsis, which is all the more affecting thanks to a cast of characters who demand a genuine empathy from the very first minutes of the film.

Let's get to the acting, though, because that's what people are really buzzing about when it comes to this film.  Clooney is wonderful, multi-faceted and surprisingly convincing as a family man in emotional turmoil.  I still think Ryan Gosling gives a better performance in The Ides of March, but having to settle for Clooney as a close second really doesn't feel much like settling at all.  Shailene Woodley is the film's biggest surprise, though, not least because her biggest claim to fame prior to this was a starring role in ABCFamily's nonsensical Secret Life of the American Teenager.  It is easy to see where she could have defaulted to playing the stereotypical caricature of the wayward daughter, but instead she brings something deeper to the role, something that evokes sympathy and indeed (at least, in my opinion), paints her as the heroine of the film. 

On the whole,  this film tells a great story of one family, while also exploring the larger theme of what it means to be a descendant, to carry on a legacy and what that means.  I think for this reason it is not only likely to earn awards for its stellar individual performances, but for the story itself.  The combination of these elements makes it a top contender, in my opinion, for an award for screenwriting as well as a strong candidate for Best Picture of the Year.