Not long ago, I was driving to work when some jerk was cutting people off and driving recklessly as she rushed on her way. Where I live, such aggressive driving is not uncommon and it annoys me when other drivers think they are more important than everyone else. On this morning, though, as she cut around me, I did not rescind the aggressive driving or even flip the bird as I have been known to do.
Several blocks down the road, I noticed her car parked on the side of the road. She was parked outside a junior high school, and in front of the school there also was an ambulance. She was rushing because she had heard that her child had been hurt. The incident reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, generally attributed to Plato: “Be kind because everyone is fighting a hard battle.”
I thought of the quote and the driver recently while watching The Descendants (2011). Too often, films portray characters as two dimensional, either good or bad. But some, like The Descendants, at least provide a few brilliant moments that remind us that others are just as complicated as we are. These moments in The Descendants were my favorite parts of the movie. We watch George Clooney having a late-night conversation with a teenage boy, who suddenly goes from being a stereotype played for comic relief to a real person. In another scene, we watch a father-in-law yell at his son-in-law played by Clooney, while we wonder why Clooney’s character does not easily respond. But then we see why Clooney held his tongue. He remembered that everyone is fighting a hard battle.
The Descendants tells the story of Matt King (Clooney) whose wife is in a coma from a boating accident. While she is in the hospital, King tries to connect with and understand his two daughters, while he also struggles with a major family and work decision and with a discovery about his dying wife. Many critics have mentioned Clooney’s performance as Oscar-worthy, and it is. The other actors — including Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, and Beau Bridges — are excellent, and the film makes great use of the Hawaii scenery to help tell the story.
Because I had already heard a lot about the movie before seeing it, the first third of the movie seemed too familiar, but as the movie progressed, I was sucked into a deeper story than I expected. Some of the trailer clips make the movie look like a comedy, but while there are some funny moments, the film is more moving drama than hilarious comedy. The Descendants is directed and co-written by Alexander Payne, who also directed and co-wrote Sideways (2004), About Schmidt (2002), and Election (1999). While all of those movies touch on some similar themes and tone, they each are different, and one should not expect another Sideways. But The Descendants is an excellent addition to the director’s outstanding work.
Some Other Reviews Because Why Should You Trust Me?: On Rotten Tomatoes, The Descendants currently has a 90% critic rating and an 85% audience rating. Leonard Maltin praised the movie, asserting, “Watching a film as mature, moving, original and unpredictable as The Descendants renews my faith in American movies.” One of the few dissenters on the movie, Walter Chaw at FilmFreakCentral concluded that “The Descendants doesn’t just waste my time–it also empties the chamber of an artist (Director Payne) who should be making better movies.” Ouch.
What did you think of The Descendants? Leave your two cents in the comments.
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. The book was was first released that year following Twain’s instructions that much of the text not be published for 100 years.
