.......with my sweet wife and neither of us cared for it, although it's a Best Picture nominee this year by The Academy.
The Link
Spoilers ahead!!!!!
We had no idea at all what this movie was about before we saw it, only knowing that George Clooney was the lead actor.
Afterwards, I read Roger Ebert's review saying this was a comedy (because it had a happy ending) set in the lovely tropical paradise of Hawaii.
Roger also said that Clooney gives one of his best performances ever.
I do agree that Clooney was quite good and he's up for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role.
However, for us, the movie was a depressing tale about a dysfunctional family and, except for a few shots, even lush Hawaii looked pretty plain.
IMHO, The State of Hawaii Bureau of Tourism won't get much benefit from this film.
To be fair, Clooney's character indicated early on, in a narrative voice-over, that this wasn't going to be a scenic vacation travelog.
Cinematically, for us, "The Descendants" was very depressing in the manner of "Ordinary People" or "Away From Her" or "In The Bedroom" without, IMO, having the overall good acting of which those films boasted or the hope they offered.
The whole dysfunctional family thing made me think of "The Royal Tenenbaums - Hawaiian Style," living there in Aloha Land.
Clooney wasn't either cool or in control (as is his usual film forte) and, other than George being handsome (but here really dressed down and scruffy) himself, everyone else we saw in this flick looked and acted fairly ugly.
George's character did strike a decisive blow toward preserving natural Hawaii in the end.
We try to see all the Best Picture nominees before the Academy Awards show.
But this is one so-honored motion picture I could have missed, except for completeness.
I'll recommend it only for really big fans of George Clooney, who'd care to watch him in a tragic and depressing, but honest and heartfelt, seriocomedy (because it did have that required "happy" ending), which shows mostly the drabber areas of both modern Hawaii and the human condition.
Anybody seen it?
The Link
Spoilers ahead!!!!!
We had no idea at all what this movie was about before we saw it, only knowing that George Clooney was the lead actor.
Afterwards, I read Roger Ebert's review saying this was a comedy (because it had a happy ending) set in the lovely tropical paradise of Hawaii.
Roger also said that Clooney gives one of his best performances ever.
I do agree that Clooney was quite good and he's up for Best Male Actor in a Leading Role.
However, for us, the movie was a depressing tale about a dysfunctional family and, except for a few shots, even lush Hawaii looked pretty plain.
IMHO, The State of Hawaii Bureau of Tourism won't get much benefit from this film.
To be fair, Clooney's character indicated early on, in a narrative voice-over, that this wasn't going to be a scenic vacation travelog.
Cinematically, for us, "The Descendants" was very depressing in the manner of "Ordinary People" or "Away From Her" or "In The Bedroom" without, IMO, having the overall good acting of which those films boasted or the hope they offered.
The whole dysfunctional family thing made me think of "The Royal Tenenbaums - Hawaiian Style," living there in Aloha Land.
Clooney wasn't either cool or in control (as is his usual film forte) and, other than George being handsome (but here really dressed down and scruffy) himself, everyone else we saw in this flick looked and acted fairly ugly.
George's character did strike a decisive blow toward preserving natural Hawaii in the end.
We try to see all the Best Picture nominees before the Academy Awards show.
But this is one so-honored motion picture I could have missed, except for completeness.
I'll recommend it only for really big fans of George Clooney, who'd care to watch him in a tragic and depressing, but honest and heartfelt, seriocomedy (because it did have that required "happy" ending), which shows mostly the drabber areas of both modern Hawaii and the human condition.
Anybody seen it?
