Review of The Descendants (2011) by Luca B — 26 Sep 2012

This is a film that carefully treads around the edges. I wouldn't say it ever became too sentimental. Yet I also expected a snappy dialogue- filled, fast-paced dramedy, sort of like Reitman's Up in the Air, that other Clooney film.

The film is written and plays out like a real life situation. One could maybe try to say that about any film like this, but here it rings true. To say it's slow or fast paced isn't really what matters, but what matters is how much it develops its characters with real richness and detail.

In a way, the screenplay is helped a lot by Payne as a director, not because the writing is thin, but because the direction allows the film to feel sort of spontaneous. This isn't a film full of twists or turns, and yet at every corner when you try to analyze it, you realize how unpredictable it all feels.

I have also heard one thing about it in many reviews, and that is how it's messy like life. One can easily read those descriptions and just roll his or her eyes, but that description really holds truth.

The film doesn't feel to glamorous or stylized. It certainly isn't the dramedy with witty one liners that I expected. Instead, when it's all over, you take a step back and realize that it all feels sort of messy.

It's not complicated, and in fact it's a pretty simple film, but even the editing helps this certain mood that the film leaves you in. It's simple, yet hard to really pinpoint and describe how it all comes together or how it's something of real importance.

This is completely refreshing, especially when films these days hammer you with these sort of messages or details.