The Descendants Review (3/5)

Should the Oscars descend unto this Hawaii drama starring George Clooney?
Have you ever watched a movie nominated for a 'Best Picture' Oscar in its respective year, only to be left wondering if the judges were simply looking for a movie which went a little out of its way to be that bit more emotional, thrilling or touching, sacrificing something or other along the way? That's very much the sense I got with The Descendants, a film which packs in a lot of tear-jerking moments, but whose plot carries very little emotional resonance or originality overall. It chronicles the lives of a family reeling after the motherly figure is left mortally wounded by a boat accident, leaving them to pick up the pieces and discover for themselves the problems that arose between her and her husband (George Clooney). Right from the off, Descendants pitches itself as a domestic drama of affairs, business and togetherness, an unashamedly emotive piece which holds a certain realism in its portrayal of events that you might truly believe could happen to any group of people without the long, overblown chain of coincidences so many flicks seem to rest on nowadays. Clooney suits his role as the father figure, Matt King, perfectly, capable of blending intense anger with passion and comedy to an extent that you'll find his character totally believable and empathetic, a trait often missing from film protagonists. Although he is perhaps the only 'big star' of the movie, Clooney is backed up by a wealth of up-and-coming actors and actresses, ranging from the brilliant Shailene Woodey as angsty teenage daughter Alex King to Matthew Lillard (Shaggy in the live-action Scooby Doo movies from the turn of the last decade, if you can remember them) as inadvertent traitor Brian Speer, each backed by enough substance and heart to maintain the balance between subtlety and melodrama neatly. The direction by Alexander Payne isn't half bad, either- there are plenty of eye-catching shots of the islands of Hawaii, showcasing some of the best sights the locale has to offer to the point that there are times where you might mistake this for a holiday promo, yet still endevaouring to place a strong focus on the characters and events for the most part. What I cannot believe, though, is that Descendants has secured a nomination for the 2012 'Best Picture' Academy Award when its main storyline is so predictable and downright tepid on regular intervals- we spend half our time sitting at the bedside of the dying mum Elizabeth, as the family either rally against her for acting behind their backs or apologise for not appreciating her enough in her short lifetime, while the other half of the flick is spent meandering between dull threads of business and land ventures and discovering who Elizabeth had an affair with. Hardly any of the various character arcs appear to come to any fruition by the film's climax, and while some may argue that this ambiguity allows for the viewer to 'fill in the gaps', as it were, I would certainly have liked more closure on many elements which the scriptwrights had spent nearly two hours building up, such as the aforementioned love affair and business deal, so as for us to at least know their consequences on the Kings' lives to some extent. Instead, we're left with a silent parting shot of sorts that's clearly begging for Oscars simply with its overall focus on this disjointed family. Apologies to anyone who thinks otherwise, but in this day and age I believe that we as viewers have the right to be treated with a little more respect than thinking that merely representing the woes of life and love accurately with very little deviation from what the real world might offer is enough. If I wanted to see real life, to have my disbelief left totally unsuspended over the course of a two-hour period, I wouldn't be sitting in the cinema- as it is, The Descendants tries to be too realistic for its own good, leading to a weak plotline bolstered only by the brilliant performances all round. Apparently the judges on the Academy Award panel and myself have very different opinions on what makes a great movie.