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Funny, moving, and beautifully acted, The Descendants captures the unpredictable messiness of life with eloquence and uncommon grace. Read critic reviews
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Watch The Descendants with a subscription on Hulu, rent on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, Prime Video, or buy on Fandango at Home, Apple TV, Prime Video.
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Movie Info
Native islander Matt King (George Clooney) lives with his family in Hawaii. Their world shatters when a tragic accident leaves his wife in a coma. Not only must Matt struggle with the stipulation in his wife's will that she be allowed to die with dignity, but he also faces pressure from relatives to sell their family's enormous land trust. Angry and terrified at the same time, Matt tries to be a good father to his young daughters, as they too try to cope with their mother's possible death.
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Rating: R (Sexual References|Language)
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Genre: Comedy, Drama
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Original Language: English
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Director: Alexander Payne
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Producer: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
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Writer: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Box Office (Gross USA): $82.6M
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Runtime:
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Distributor: Fox Searchlight
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Production Co: Dune, Ad Hominem Enterprises, Ingenious Film Partners, Little Blair
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Sound Mix: Dolby, SDDS
Cast & Crew
News & Interviews for The Descendants
Critic Reviews for The Descendants
Audience Reviews for The Descendants
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Boring and vacuous. Would have been better if the story was not focused on Matt (George Clooney) but an Arrested Development style ensemble examination of the whole family. Shouldn't have won a writing Oscar. Watch for the shots of Hawaii.
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A smartly written comedy-drama, The Descendants is both funny and touching in it's dialogue, acting and direction, never afraid to truly show the more uglier parts of humanity in it's truthfulness.
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Clooney is an unlikely lawyer in Hawaii preparing for the deal of the century when his wife goes into a coma through an boating accident. What happens next, presented in a touching family drama kind of way, is the interpersonal family business of burying the dead, warts and all. Not bad, and a depiction of Hawaii not usually seen.
kevin w Super Reviewer -
The following review contains spoilers. Payne is a director that has never connected with me so much as he has done with others, but I do not fail at recognizing his sheer talent at tackling complex emotional subjects with an accuracy that few directors in Hollywood have succeeded at treating given his maturity. <i>The Descendants</i> had multiple risks of falling into a generic and clichéd treatment of an already overused dramatic story about the reconstruction of a family while facing the imminent loss of a close relative, but makes a superb characterization of each member of the King family. The film could also have failed at mixing correctly the drama genre with comedic relief (mostly provided by the character Sid), but Payne smartly presents characters to which we may first build a prejudiced perspective for then letting the characters talk for presenting their emotional backgrounds. In this way, we are first introduced to Alexandra as a foul-mouthed, alcoholic and insensitive daughter, and we meet Sid as a "Dumb & Dumber" kind of character, uttering lines for comedic relief and with an intentionally funny physiognomy, but then we discover that Alexandra is a disappointed teenager with a lack of a male family authority in her life and with no parental figures to support her, and Sid is a kid with exactly the same lack of a father figure that disguises his problems pretending that everything is OK. Despite his emotional insensibility towards Elizabeth's imminent death, he has feelings of authentic human value and found a much needed comfort zone in Matt King's family, the family that he probably doesn't have. Even if distanced from the completely refreshing irreverence of <i>Sideways</i> (Payne's best film yet) and from the complexity of the analysis of <i>About Schmidt</i>, with a plot that offers nothing that is actually daring, <i>The Descendants</i> combines great expertise at shooting wonderful filming locations with solid performances and a mature treatment of topics difficult to deal with. Adding comedy is one of the director's trademarks, and that was a huge risk here, but not in Payne's agenda. Even if the whole subject of selling the family's land comes as a secondary background to show Matt King's successful transformation at valuing his family and the heritage left by his ancestors, a topic that acquires not the same significance that the family reconstruction topic had, the film offers valuable lessons in between. I loved the metaphor of the land suggesting that Matt and his family where the descendants, but also that whatever we do now, our descendants will be always indirectly involved. It is how we decide to transform our family today that will have a permanent butterfly effect for our "descendant" generations to come. Filmwise, it is not about if the story has already been told or not. It is about how you tell it. 73/100
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