Oscar Watch: "The Descendants"

"The Descendants"
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley
Director: Alexander Payne



"The Descendants" is a film about loss, truth, and ultimately, forgiveness. It runs the gamut of human emotion, through the eyes of a family who's matriarch is comatose, and who's past hides a secret. Clooney portrays the husband, Matt King, who's wife, Elizabth, was traumatically injured in a boating accident. As he tries to bring his family and lead them during this troubles time, he finds out a disturbing secret about his wife. After anger, he finally learns to forgive.

This film's strength was on the emotions of its characters. Matt had the most emotional journey, from regret to anger to forgiveness, and then acceptance. Elizabeth's father was portrayed as a hard, unaccepting man, but in the end was just a father who truly loved his daughter. Elizabeth's older daughter somewhat mirrored clooney's journey in terms of forgiveness. And her boyfriend was first there for comic relief, but we later see that there is a certain maturity behind him.

Was this a good movie? Sure. Fantastic enough to be oscar-worthy? Not in my opinion. Clooney's acting was good and solid, but not something overally impressive. This movie doesn't reinvent the wheel. Sure, most films repeat themes and plot structures and so on. But this film did not feel particularly special. Not like "The Artist," which was based on older silent films, but original for this day and age.

I do not think "The Descendants" is a particularly stellar film. It's a well made film worth watching, but there are other films out there more worthy of oscar love. I talk about "rise of the planet of the apes" a lot, but that film was so well-made, filled with deep themes, and warnings as well, i hope it will get some significant oscar attention.

In conclusion, "The Descendants" has a solid cast, and a sad story about the emotional journey of losing a loved one. Worth watching, but maybe not worth a smorgasbord of oscar nominations.