The Descendants

At its best, The Descendants is a lovely rumination on love, loss, togetherness — in the end virtually all at once. I'd seen it in one of those bigger NYC megaplexes wishing I was back in my hometown watching it in the smaller, cozier arthouse theater that I've been watching indies like this in for years. It just has that comfortably homey quality, ya know? The perfect indie movie that you can just pop in if you're in the right mood for it and really having a great night as a result.

Unfortunately, I think a lot if it really does bog itself down too much in on itself through extraneous storylines and characters and motifs they just drag on and on unnecessarily. Mainland-centric perspectives that exoticize Hawaii have always kind of bothered me, and while I realize much of the story is trying to kind of deglam mainstream perceptions of it the constant ukelele music and random splashes of the shore you can hear and seagulls just to remind you of where it is still just stunk to me of a really smelly legacy that only snowballed until the end when George Clooney gives that incredibly patronizing and corny speech about his ancestors' lands belonging to the Hawaiian people and whatnot. I mean, I realize that's probably just adapted from the source material but I just don't think they really made it work that well, the backdrop didn't seem to add much that it couldn't have done more effectively through other means.

It might seem like nitpicking but its things like that in addition to it that just seemed tacked on and, well, tacky. The random surfer kid who didn't really need to be there, and then they just randomly force some sympathetic back story on him to show that ~everyone's more complicated than they seem~ or something. The kids in general, including the littlest one, just seemed a little too cliche and just how old farts view children and not necessarily realistic. The search for Matthew Lillard was exhaustive and annoying and boring and didn't feel worth it as a viewer by the end. And that whole subplot of trying to get rid of the land at the end, just like, blah blah blah. Give me some more Shailene Woodley man! I think she showed here that she was probably the reason why The Secret Life was such a guilty pleasure to me in the first season (until they just gave up on it and had her deliver the damn baby mid-season) because my eyes always went to her and she was constantly the most interesting person on screen to watch despite her more emotional moments sometimes seeming a bit overcooked (probably leftover Secret Life syndrome).

As for everyone else in the cast, I admittedly went in skeptical of the Clooney "career best" notices because I feel like he gets those notices every time he has a new performance and it's never, like, THAT much better than any other performance he gives — not that he plays the same character, but I think his performances are generally of the same level and not necessarily a very high one. But yeah, I do think this was definitely a role that showcased a growth and maturity in his performative abilities as a vulnerable man with a world of responsibility on his shoulders between his cousins counting on him and trying to hold his family together and dealing with the bittersweet loss of an unfaithful wife. He doesn't make my top ten or anything but I wouldn't mind him being nominated (I guess not if he wins, either, though I don't really think he's going to). Robert Forster was understated but he did shine in his brief moments, especially near the end (although the whole peeking through the cracked open door thing seemed incredibly contrived) though I don't think he deserves significant recognition for it. Nor should Judy Greer, who was fine in her...scene, but she's no Viola Davis in Doubt or anything.

I do think there's a lot of good to recommend in it, and I wouldn't mind seeing it myself if under the right circumstances...but man that last speech really lowered it for me. Like what even was that. And in general I'm not a big fan of the Alexander Payne voiceover format.