[ed. What's not to like? Hawaii, Clooney, Alexander Payne (Sideways), and one of my favorite character actors, Robert Forster (Jackie Brown)].
by Andrew O'Hehir
More of a muted, bittersweet Hawaiian-themed cocktail than a masterful cinematic experience, Alexander Payne's new family comedy-drama "The Descendants" clearly emerges from the Toronto International Film Festival as a leading Oscar contender. I suppose that's partly a commentary on the middling quality of this year's Toronto lineup, which features many small-scale delights but few smash hits. But it's also an endorsement of the low-key, seemingly casual charm of "The Descendants," which begins as a rambling tale about an inept father wrestling with tragedy and gradually builds toward a satisfying emotional payoff.
This is George Clooney's star vehicle this fall -- as opposed to "The Ides of March," which he directed and in which he plays a supporting role -- and this is the one that may see him collecting gold figurines during the cold-weather months. Clooney's gotten better and braver as he's aged, and no longer seems the least concerned with nurturing his personal vanity or protecting his star image. He is unquestionably the star of "The Descendants," but his character, a slightly disheveled Honolulu lawyer named Matt King who seems to view chinos and a Hawaiian shirt as formal attire, is not exactly a glamorous movie hero.
Matt faces a number of crises at once, and is ill prepared for all of them. His wife is in a coma after a serious boating accident, and his daughters, 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scotty (Judy Greer) are in open rebellion against parental authority. Matt's superficially eager to seize the moment and become a better husband and father, but essentially has no idea how to manage it. Then there's the immense land trust he manages for his extended family, 25,000 pristine acres on the island of Kauai that represents the last untouched inheritance of Hawaiian royalty. (Matt and his tribe are "haoles," or white Hawaiians, but are descended from the House of Kamehameha through a great-great-grandmother.) The time to sell out to a developer, and reap an enormous payoff that will make the whole family rich, seems to have come -- but the final decision lies with Matt.
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by Andrew O'Hehir
More of a muted, bittersweet Hawaiian-themed cocktail than a masterful cinematic experience, Alexander Payne's new family comedy-drama "The Descendants" clearly emerges from the Toronto International Film Festival as a leading Oscar contender. I suppose that's partly a commentary on the middling quality of this year's Toronto lineup, which features many small-scale delights but few smash hits. But it's also an endorsement of the low-key, seemingly casual charm of "The Descendants," which begins as a rambling tale about an inept father wrestling with tragedy and gradually builds toward a satisfying emotional payoff.This is George Clooney's star vehicle this fall -- as opposed to "The Ides of March," which he directed and in which he plays a supporting role -- and this is the one that may see him collecting gold figurines during the cold-weather months. Clooney's gotten better and braver as he's aged, and no longer seems the least concerned with nurturing his personal vanity or protecting his star image. He is unquestionably the star of "The Descendants," but his character, a slightly disheveled Honolulu lawyer named Matt King who seems to view chinos and a Hawaiian shirt as formal attire, is not exactly a glamorous movie hero.
Matt faces a number of crises at once, and is ill prepared for all of them. His wife is in a coma after a serious boating accident, and his daughters, 17-year-old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scotty (Judy Greer) are in open rebellion against parental authority. Matt's superficially eager to seize the moment and become a better husband and father, but essentially has no idea how to manage it. Then there's the immense land trust he manages for his extended family, 25,000 pristine acres on the island of Kauai that represents the last untouched inheritance of Hawaiian royalty. (Matt and his tribe are "haoles," or white Hawaiians, but are descended from the House of Kamehameha through a great-great-grandmother.) The time to sell out to a developer, and reap an enormous payoff that will make the whole family rich, seems to have come -- but the final decision lies with Matt.
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