List Price : $29.98 Price : $19.99
Synopsis: The Descendants
Amazon.com
Only Oscar-winning writer-director Alexander Payne (Sideways) would think to cast the famously handsome George Clooney as a disheveled dad in his outstanding adaptation of Kaui Hart Hemmings's tragicomic novel. Clooney dials down the glamour to play Matt King, a Hawaii real-estate attorney with a propensity for unflattering shirts and ill-fitting trousers. When Matt's wife, Elizabeth, ends up in a coma after a water-skiing accident, Matt must learn to balance the parenting of his resentful daughters, Scottie (Amara Miller) and Alexandra (Shailene Woodley, The Secret Life of the American Teenager), with the sale of a pristine plot of Kauai land that stands to make the King cousins, including scruffy Hugh (Beau Bridges), a fortune. As Elizabeth's condition worsens, Matt contacts friends and relatives, like her fiercely protective father (Robert Forster), so that they'll have the chance to say goodbye. In the process, he finds out she was having an affair with realtor Brian Speer (Matthew Lillard, effectively cast against type), so he and the girls, including Alex's hilariously mellow friend, Sid (Nick Krause), go on an island-hopping trip, ostensibly to add Brian to the mix, but Matt really wants to find out what his wife saw in the guy. His journey from naiveté to knowledge brings out Clooney's soulful side, creating a believably flawed, deeply sympathetic figure. If Payne leans too heavily on the slack-key soundtrack, his love for his characters, including Judy Greer as Matt's female counterpart, results in his most emotionally satisfying movie to date. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
The Descendants Reviews
The Descendants Reviews
| 29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:  A Unique Family Dramedy About Searching For Truth, But Finding Something More Important, By This review is from: The Descendants (DVD) It seems hard to believe that it's been seven years since Alexander Payne's "Sideways" became the critical darling of 2004. Nominated for five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and winning Payne an Adapted Screenplay Oscar--that picture (along with Election and About Schmidt) signaled a talented filmmaker with an unorthodox worldview. Blending elements of comedy and drama, Payne has crafted complex characters simultaneously frustrating and sympathetic--but altogether real. In adapting Kaui Hart Hemmings' intimate novel "The Descendants" to the big screen, Payne demonstrates (once again) a deft balance of emotions to create a picture both funny and heartbreaking. I so admired how Payne made vineyards and fine wines a major component, an extra character really, in the sublime "Sideways." In much the same way, Hawaii is a principle character (and I would contend one of the most pivotal) to "The Descendents." It would be easy to imagine someone jettisoning much of this rich texture,... Read more 16 of 18 people found the following review helpful: A comedy/drama about people coping with the irresolvable, By This review is from: The Descendants (DVD) In a similar vein to his earlier film Sideways, Alexander Payne's The Descendants is a film about people coping. The difference here is that in this film they are coping with the unacceptable and irresolvable. Based on the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings and adapted by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants deals with the problems of a man discovering that his wife, who is now in a coma from which she will not recover, was unfaithful to him, with all of the ripple effects that something like that can create.Matt King (George Clooney) is a lawyer living on the island of Kaua'i in Hawaii. His wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) is in a hospital where she lies in a coma resulting from a recent boating accident, and now Matt - who refers to himself as "the back-up parent" is suddenly thrust into the role of being the only parent to his two daughters, 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller), both of whom are exhibiting... Read more 12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:  A Poignant Depiction of a Family in Crisis, By This review is from: The Descendants (DVD) The Descendants, a movie starring George Clooney, is the best film I've seen all year. It is adult-themed, realistic and poignant. The dialogue seems real, the acting is superb and the photography of Hawaii is spellbindingly beautiful. The story is about Matt King, descended from King Kamehameha many generations back. He and his family have inherited quite a bit of land for which Matt is the executor and they are in the process of selling it. The proceeds will go to Matt and his cousins. Despite having wealth, Matt has lived frugally, to the point where one might question his motives. His wife, Joanie, has just been severely injured in a boating accident and is comatose. It is unlikely that she ever will wake up and her living will is very explicit that she wants her life support pulled.Matt has two daughters, Scottie and Alex. Alex is 17 and a handful. As the film opens, she is in a private school that may also be a rehab facility. Scottie, about 12, is acting out at... Read more |
› See all 37 customer reviews...
Watch the movie The Descendants
videobb.com , videozer.com
Watch the movie online
No comments :
Post a Comment