The Descendants – Best Picture Nominee

Posted by Charmaine Blake on Feb 3rd, 2012 in Comedy, Drama, Oscar Buzz | 0 comments

The Descendants – Best Picture Nominee

The Descendants is earning a huge buzz from movie fans and critics all over the world. The Descendants earned an Oscar nomination for Best Picture along with George Clooney‘s nomination for Best Actor. It can also be noted that George Clooney won the Golden Globe Awards for Best Actor in the drama film, The Descendants. A movie that truly made its way to the top this year. So what can be expected from The Descendants? Here is a movie review on this Oscar nominated film and why it is becoming an all time favorite.

“For all anyone really knows, maybe George Clooney goes home at night and kicks his dog, but he certainly seems like a man comfortable in his own skin — and most of the characters he plays in movies reflect that, as well.

So it is particularly rewarding to see Clooney outside his comfort zone of self-composed cool in “The Descendants,” Alexander Payne’s beautifully gentle, funny and moving film. This is a relative thing, mind you: Clooney is Clooney. He’s a little schlubby but still handsome as a cowboy and exuding a muted version of the charm he seems to give off even when he’s not trying to — and here he’s not.
He plays Matt King, a self-described “back-up parent” to two daughters, an inattentive husband, a lawyer whose family has lived in Hawaii for generations, descendants of royalty and owners of a 25,000-acre chunk of prime island real estate. Matt’s cousins have put him in charge of disposing of the land or keeping it, and the impending decision is the topic of great local interest.

But Matt has bigger problems at the moment. His wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), who we see in an opening scene — rapturous as she rides in a boat, hair flying back and the thrill of speed and danger on her face — has been injured in a water-skiing accident and lies in a coma, unlikely to recover. Matt has no hope of coping alone with Scottie (Amara Miller), his 10-year-old daughter, so he retrieves Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), his rebellious 17-year-old daughter, from boarding school to spend time with her mother and help with Scottie.

Alexandra is surly, angry — understandable under the circumstances. But she drops a bombshell that further explains her mood and her actions: Elizabeth was having an affair. Matt is devastated, of course, and he spends a big chunk of the movie looking for the other man, at times acting like the most-inept stalker in the world.

Matt and the girls, along with Alexandra’s dopey friend Sid (Nick Krause), also must make the circuit of friends and family to tell them of Elizabeth’s condition, to give them a chance to say goodbye. One of the most difficult (and funniest) visits is to Elizabeth’s parents’ home, where her father, Scott (Robert Forster), expresses his anger and resentment toward Matt — and punches Sid in the face.

Clooney, despite having an Oscar on his mantle and a slew of good roles to his credit, is still an underrated actor. Here he is tremendous. There are so many conflicting things going on in Matt’s world that it takes time to process them. It’s a messy business. He is hurt, betrayed, confused and, despite the annoyed façade, more than a little scared.”

You can read the complete movie review at AZ Central

Make sure you stay tuned as we examine other exceptional movies that made it to the 2012 Oscar nominations right in this blog.

Charmaine Blake loves movies, musical theater listening to music and taking pictures of anything that she finds interesting. She is a voracious reader and writer, and enjoys her time writing for New Movie Launches. Charmaine loves spending time with her pets and currently has a Siberian Husky, a toy poodle and a cat.