The Descendents

The Descendents

                The Descendents is the 2011 comedy/drama starring George Clooney.  Matt King, played by Clooney, is a lawyer in Hawaii whose wife is put into a coma by a power boat accident, so as he puts it in the movie the second string parent is put in to raise their two daughters, 10 year old Scottie and 17 year problem child Alex.  If all of this wasn’t enough he is also the trustee of 25 acres of the island of Kaua’i that has been in his family for generations, and his family thinks it might be time to sell the land.   Matt and his family persevere through everything that comes their way and it all ends up making them stronger as a family.

                I did not have high hopes for this movie going into it, but I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.  I really enjoyed this movie.  I thought the story was great it was not overly dark and there were lots of funny moments sprinkled throughout.  The acting was good George Clooney was good and I thought that the part was great for him.  Shailene Woodley who plays the 17 year old daughter Alex does a nice job as well.  You might recognize Woodley as the main character from the abc family show the Secret Life of the American Teenager.  Whenever I have seen any part of that show all I can think is wow this girl is super annoying, but she was actually really good in this movie and wasn’t what I would call a real likable character but not one you disliked either.  I want to also give a mention to a boy named Sid, played by Nick Krause.  Sid is Alex’s boyfriend/friend and he is where most of the funny parts in the movie came from.  He is not very bright but very endearing throughout the whole movie and was easily one of my favorite characters in the movie.  He has not been in much but I hope to see him in more in the future.  The movie did receive several awards and nominations, including winning an Oscar for best adapted screen play, and Oscar nominations for best actor for George Clooney and Motion picture of the year.

                I overall really enjoyed the movie and would recommend it to just about anyone.  It’s not a movie that will leave you rolling on the floor but the story and acting are good enough to keep most everyone entertained.

I give The Descendents 4 out of 5 paw prints, it was a great movie.

My next review will be over the Muppets 2011 return to the big screen.

And now as always, “You don’t have to go home, but you have to get the hell out of here!”