Movie Review: 'The Descendants'

"Drama about a family and their grief" doesn't sound like anybody's idea of an enjoyable time at the movies. But The Descendants is exactly that, and is one of the year's most impressive and moving films.

Directed by Alexander Payne, following a seven-year hiatus after Sideways and shot and set in Hawaii, the film continues George Clooney's progression into older and more mature roles. Unlike his last prestige drama, 2009's great Up in the Air, Clooney is playing not an isolated loner but rather a family man.

The movie opens as Clooney, the father of two teenage daughters, is still reeling from a serious accident that left his wife in a likely irreversible coma. He must deal with the grief, another bit of news he receives concerning his wife, not to mention the two girls that he has no idea how to raise or relate to.

There's also a subplot involving a huge plot of land in Hawaii of which Clooney, a lawyer and the scion of a land-owning family, is supervising the potential sale; the screenplay actually makes this much more interesting than it sounds.

Payne previously directed Election, About Schmidt and Sideways, and while I enjoyed parts of those films, I've always sort of held his movies at arm's length. He's got a propensity for awkward, wrong-sounding dialogue – much like his clear inspiration, James L. Brooks – and his work has always seemed to go out of its way to stereotype blue-collar Americans as inbred hicks, especially those from the director's native Midwest.

The Descendants has some of the former but thankfully, none of the latter. There are some beats in the screenplay that don't quite work, and a few instances of laughs popping up at moments where they absolutely shouldn't. But The Descendants overcomes that with about a half-dozen standout performances, a heartbreaking story with satisfying emotional payoffs, and truly beautiful Hawaiian photography.

This is a different sort of role for Clooney, who, despite being a wealthy land owner, dresses well and has the actor's trademark good looks, is nevertheless something of a sad sack. A 180 from Danny Ocean, the role, along with Up in the Air, is among the best of the actor's career.

There's another amazing little performance in the film, from Judy Greer, a comedy actress who's been on the periphery of some very good movies in the past decade. She absolutely knocks it out of the park here and expect the performance, despite its brevity, to earn some Oscar attention.

Both of the daughters are also very impressive; as the older one, Shailene Woodley (from Secret Life of the American Teenager) is a real breakout and I expect her to go on to huge things - she's like a more interesting version of Kristen Stewart. And Robert Forster has some truly great moments as the comatose wife's father, a man clearly hiding a lifetime of contempt.

Also in the cast are Matthew Lillard, Beau Bridges – channeling his brother's most famous role as a lazy guy in a Hawaiian shirt, and Michael Ontkean. While it's great to see the latter, long-MIA actor – Sheriff Truman from Twin Peaks, and also the guy who stripped naked in Slap Shot –  he's for some reason given a non-speaking role.

Aside from the excellent performances and filmmaking, The Descendants is above all an honest and human film, in a way that most Oscar-baiting family dramas are not.

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The Silver Screen Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

Roll Credits: The Descendants

Directed by: Alexander Payne

Starring: George Clooney, Judy Greer, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard

Rated: R

Length: 1 hour, 55 mins.