The Descendants is a comedy-drama from Fox Search Light, and is also based on the novel of the same name by Kaui Hart Hemmings. It stars the ever-fantastic (except Batman & Robin) George Clooney. The Descendants is directed by Alexander Payne who has previously brought us About Schmidt and Sideways.

Once again I’m going to stress that I always separate my feelings on a film from the novel that it is adapted from.

The film follows Matt King (our boy Clooney) as he copes with his dying, comatose wife and troubled family. To top it all off he is also dealing with the sale of his family’s trust of a large piece of Hawaiian land. Over the course of the flick Matt discovers details about his wife’s infidelity.

What Worked For This Film:

– The soundtrack! The descendants boasts musical score from entirely Hawaiian musicians. It’s soft or stressing at all the right moments but doesn’t dictate the films emotion.

– Clooney. This film is just another reason why I think he’s still in the top 10 best leading men. He right for the role of Dad. I could totally see this guy cleaning a pool and making a craptastic lunch.

– The kids. I have to give them props. Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller and Nick Krause keep up in the thespian department with Clooney.

– The writing. Payne, Jim Rash (Yeah, Dean Pelton) and Nat Faxon really opened up a world we all could live in for good and for bad.

What Didn’t Work For This Film:

– I’m seriously still looking.

The Descendants is AWESOME.