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| A Peeping George |
The Descendants is Alexander Payne's fifth film, and the fourth in his unofficial "The Plight of The Beleagured Middle-Aged Caucasian Male" series (my term, not his). As a white male nearing the well-documented period of "middle age", I am a confessed fan of each of the literate and nuanced entries in the series, which includes 1999's Election, About Schmidt (2002), and Sideways (2004).
In The Descendants, George Clooney plays Matt King, Payne's latest BMACM*. Matt is a lawyer on the Hawaiian island of Oahu, who is forced into the role of primary care giver for his two young daughters after his wife is severely injured in a boating accident. Matt also happens to descend from a wealthy family of landowners on the island, and has been designated the chief trustee of the land among the family's living descendants, who are pressuring Matt to accept a lucrative offer from a major international corporation that wants to develop the land into a series of resorts. After retrieving his eldest daughter from boarding school on a neighboring island, he learns from her that his wife was having an affair before her accident. This sets the main plot line into motion, in which Matt and his daughters hit the road to track down the man involved in his wife's affair.
I can speak for all of us at RAJ when I say that George Clooney is the best leading man in film today, and he uses his status in Hollywood to consistently pick diverse and thought-provoking projects. His performance in The Descendants further cements his reputation, as he brings a certain understated grief to his role as Matt King. His chemistry with Shailene Woodley as eldest child Alexandra lends a very natural quality to the familiar dynamic of a bewildered father trying to relate to his rebellious and opinionated teenage daughter. Payne has a knack for casting a big name in his BMACM roles and surrounding that character with lesser known but talented actors (Robert Forster as Matt's combative father-in-law and RAJ crush Judy Greer as the wife of the "other man" are especially notable).
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| Shailene Woodley (center) as Alexandra |
As with all of Payne's BMACM films, The Descendants is adapted from a work of literature, in this case the debut novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. It is an inspired choice, as I cannot recall another family drama ever being set in The Aloha State. This of course provides the opportunity to showcase the state's lush tropical scenery, and the film's breathtaking cinematography establishes Oahu and Honolulu as a gorgeous back drop to such an emotionally powerful story.
An Alexander Payne film would not be complete without some lighthearted comedic touches, and while The Descendants does have plenty of laughs, they are primarily derived from Alexandra's stereotypical surfer-slacker boyfriend Sid (Nick Krause). Sid is one of the few weak spots in the film, as it seems like Payne felt compelled to shoehorn him into the King family's physical and emotional journey to inject the occasional dose of levity. As a result, most of his quips feel contrived and thus fall rather flat.
Perhaps the finest touch by Payne is the wise use of the rich native musical tradition in Hawaii. We ran a post on this blog about the film's soundtrack, which you can read here. Like the islands' beautiful beaches and rain forests, the music in the film plays a key role in establishing the setting of such a unique cultural and topographical locale.
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| Alexander Payne |
The Descendants will most likely not win the Best Picture Oscar, but it is another fine treatment of the condition of the modern Caucasian male in American society. Fans of Payne's films will not be disappointed.
*Beleagured Middle-Aged Caucasian Male, just so we're all clear.
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