Chichester Cinema at New Park
The Descendants
Alexander Payne's first feature since ‘Sideways’ stars George Clooney as a father forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future.
Adapting the acclaimed novel by Hawaiian writer Kaui Hart Hemmings, Alexander Payne (Sideways) blends comedy and tragedy in this story of a father's journey to re-examine his past and embrace his future. Matt King (George Clooney) looks like a man leading a charmed life. Living on Hawaii's Big Island, he has a law practice, a wife and family, and is the trustee of a large family plot of beautiful and valuable land. But when his thrill-seeking wife Elizabeth suffers a boating accident off Waikiki, he's faced with a massive wake-up call.
Matt, the 'back-up parent', realises he barely knows his sassy daughters, ten-year-old Scottie and 17-year-old Alexandra, and has little idea how to cope with or care for them while his wife lies locked in a coma. Payne is a master of the acutely-observed contradictions of life and emotion, finding biting humour in the irony of circumstance and human shortcomings.
His flawed and funny characters are a pleasure to watch, and he peppers his excellent cast with some lovely character roles for actors such as Beau Bridges and Robert Forster. Refreshingly free of schmaltz, ‘The Descendants’ is a long-awaited treat from one of America's most singular directors.
USA · 2011 · Alexander Payne · 117min
