The Descendants

                Whether you've seen the trailer to The Descendants already or not, on the surface it looks like a good movie. It's set in Hawaii, directed and co-written by already two time (and now three) Oscar nominee Alexander Payne and stars George Clooney. Sounds like a good recipe for success, and I'm glad to say the recipe works. Though like many real recipes it could have used a little tweaking here and there to just be that little bit better. Okay, don't worry I'm done with the recipe analogy.
                The Descendents is just like Alexander Payne's other works (Sideways, About Schmidt) in that it's a dramedy. In case some readers out there aren't familiar with that term that's a dramatic comedy.  Though set in Hawaii, where many like to think of as paradise, is far from that for Matt King (Clooney). King is a real estate lawyer and the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres of land on Kauai and is set to expire in 7 years. Him and his many relatives, who are descended from some of the first white settlers of Hawaii, as well as Hawaiian royalty, must make a huge decision on whether to sell the land or not and if so, then who to as it could have a huge impact on many fronts.
              As if this were not enough for King to be going through, his wife is in a coma after a boating accident. Now he must figure out how to deal with an ailing wife and 10 and 17-year-old daughters. This proves to be even more difficult as he is in his own words "the back-up parent." Think his plate can't get any fuller? Well it can, as he learns that his wife had been cheating on him. From here King goes on a journey to find out who his wife's love was, while along the way trying to connect with his children along the way.
              As with many good movies, it all begins with the story. This one is no original as it is based off of the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. However, though I haven't read the book, from my point of view Payne and his two fellow co-writers have done a great job at adapting it. I'm not the only one as the Academy has nominated the three men for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Payne is also recognized with an Oscar nomination for his work behind the camera and he rightfully should be. He creates some incredible and beautiful shots of the landscape in Hawaii, but more importantly throughout the movie he is able to shoot and portray the many different emotions and reactions the characters have to their circumstances. Some of these scenes come through with such honesty that it allows the viewer to connect and relate with the characters and what they're going through.
            Now in front of the camera the real applause must go to George Clooney. As many other critics have praised I believe this to be one of Clooney's best performances. Overall, it's a character I find it must be difficult to play with all that's going on in his life. Yet, Clooney seems to be on point as his portrayal of King throughout is one that is real and for lack of a better term, just seems to make sense with everything he does. Having already taken home a Golden Globe for his performance, I think he has a good shot of walking away with the Oscar for Best Actor. With that I don't want to shy away from the great performance by Shailene Woodley (The O.C.) who plays Alexandra King, Matt's eldest daughter. She is great as a troubled older teen trying to make sense of all that is happening in her life. It makes sense she was rewarded with a Golden Globe nomination and that there was some talk of a possible Oscar nomination for her performance.
           Overall, I thought this a creative story with many different pieces to it that bring in many different human elements. It's entertaining to watch it unwind and see the different characters deal with these elements in real ways. The setting of Hawaii is an added bonus as it creates some great backgrounds and scenery. Though I did like the movie, I was not fully taken with it as many other critics were. Though it dives right into it's plot lines, I felt like it was still a bit slow to taking off per say and really grabbing me. It was also a bit heavier than I expected going in, and thought there would be just a bit more laughs than there ended up being. With that said it is still deserving of the 5 Oscar nominations it has received, including Best Picture.
           I give this movie 3 out of 4 stars and a thumbs up. This movie is still in theaters now, though unless you want to go see it before the Oscars it is not one I say must be seen in theaters. If you're willing to wait for it on DVD then I don't see the harm. Enjoy!

Editor's Note:  My next review will be on the Best Picture nominated film War Horse directed by Steven Spielberg. Also here is a pictures of the land they use as the land King owns on Kauai. In the movie King and his family stand just feet from where I took these pictures. It is real privately owned land on Kauai that you can get to on a ATV tour on a private ranch. I highly recommend doing so if you ever visit.

The American

            This movie was lost and the best way to describe it is with a terrible pun. It was lost like a lonely American in the beautiful Italian landscape in which it was set. Told you it was bad. This movie did have a lot of things going for it though. It had tons of potential to go somewhere good, but it just never seemed to get off of the ground. I mean it's premise alone gives one the idea that this could potentially be very fun and entertaining, but it just leads the viewer on to think something it is not.
             The American stars George Clooney as Jack, an assassin working for some unknown company. We first find him in the outskirts of Sweden in the middle of winter with a woman (strange how that happens in these movies). Anyways, the movie starts with a bang as Jack's life is instantly thrown into danger and there's a firefight. At this point Jack must go into hiding for awhile while things cool down hopefully and his agency can take care of whoever is after him. He decides to go off of the grid to Castel del Monte in Italy after becoming nervous about the orders he received from his company on what he should do.
             Once comfortable Jack contacts his boss and is set up with another job while he lays low. He is contracted by a woman named Mathilde (Thekla Reuten) to build a custom made sniper rifle for an assassination. During this project Jack's perspective on his life seems to change as he starts seeing and dating a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido). He decides that this present contract will be his last and then he is out of this business for good. But, of course it is never that easy to leave this sort of business so Jack must outwit everyone who is after him if he wants to lead a normal life with Clara.
             As I said above I expected something much different out of this movie, especially once it started with all of the action that it did. However, once Jack gets to Italy it is a totally different take on your typical spy/assassin movie. It moves quite slow and is more centered on the evolution of Jack's character then it is about his profession. This was unexpected, but still okay as the movie was not dead yet. As the movie progressed I was hoping the ending where all of the problems would finally intersect would be much grander and eventful. However, I found myself figuring out how most of it would go and in the end it was just disappointing.
            I did think there were some great things about this movie. One, it was entirely shot on location so you get to see the beautiful Italian landscape throughout the entire movie. Also, Clooney is the only American actor in the film as the rest of the supporting characters are all Italian or of some other foreign ethnicity, which I thought was a nice touch. Overall, I saw no problem with any of the acting, I just had my reservations about the plot and ending.
           I give this movie a thumbs down and 1 1/2 stars out of 4. I think it got over rated by other viewers and could have been much better than it was. As always this is just my opinion and if you're a huge fan of Clooney then give it a shot. You may find yourself not being as critical as me. This movie is available on Netflix as well as Redbox I believe. Enjoy!

My next review will be of the teen comedy Easy A starring Emma Stone.