In just five years, Alexander Payne made three films that established him as a major filmmaker. In 1999’s “Election,” 2002’s “About Schmidt” and 2004’s “Sideways,” he made his name with a distinctive voice that alternately sent up and sympathized with the memorable characters he created. It’s taken him seven years to return to the big screen — and, disappointingly, “The Descendants” doesn’t feel like a masterpiece that took that time to craft. It’s a good film — how many starring George Clooney aren’t? And made by a rookie director, it would have shown promise. But we expect more from Payne, who looked to be our chronicler of modern American alienation.
Clooney is Matt King, a real estate lawyer living in paradise. At least, he knows that’s how most outsiders see Hawaii. “Are they insane? Do they think we’re immune to life?” he asks. “Hell, I haven’t been on a surfboard for 15 years.”
| On screen |
| ‘The Descendants’ |
| 3 out of 5 stars |
| Stars: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller |
| Director: Alexander Payne |
| Rated: R for language including some sexual references |
| Running time: 115 minutes |
King is certainly not immune to life, though it’s taken some time for it to catch up to him. His wife lies in a coma, and he must not only take care of his two children, but prepare them for the possible death of their mother. “I’m the backup parent, the understudy,” he explains.
That task — and the other important one he has, of preparing himself for the possible death of his beloved wife — gets harder after his elder daughter reveals his wife had been cheating on him. Anger is added to grief, as well as a whole host of other feelings once he decides to find the man before his wife dies.
“Everyone who loves Elizabeth deserves a chance to say goodbye,” he explains, in one of the film’s many cliche lines. (Two more: “We’ll talk about our marriage. I know I can make things right.”) You know as soon as he searches for the man who’s cuckolded him that, after exploding at him, he’ll invite him to visit his wife’s deathbed. I haven’t really spoiled the film by telling you that: “The Descendants” is predictable from start to finish.
The plot isn’t the only middling element here. Hawaiian music fills the film’s soundtrack, but it’s the only thing that’s offered to establish a sense of place. Clooney’s character narrates the beginning of the film — which is based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings — and then inexplicably stops. Worse, especially for an Payne film, there are almost no laughs.
Still, the film might be worth watching just to see Clooney in a slightly atypical role. As an unsure father, he’s more down to earth than he’s been allowed to be in years. We might wonder how someone so charming could possibly have lost the love of his wife. But as his character told us, even paradise can’t eliminate human nature.
