THE DESCENDANTS
5 out of 5 stars

“don’t be fooled by appearances. in hawaii, some of the most powerful people look like bums and stuntmen.” – matt king

“you give your children enough money to do something, but not enough to do nothing.” – matt king

fox searchlight pictures does it yet again! and alexander payne, director of sideways, does it yet again with another realistic/poignant/tear-jerker with humorous undertones! george clooney was nominated yet again for an oscar for his role of matt king, and he plays this clueless father of two out-of-control daughters and the results...EXCELLENT! :)

this movie starts with a beautiful middle-aged lady named elizabeth king having a blast motoboatin’ in the beautiful waters of hawaii. as it turns out, she is the wife of matthew king (george clooney), successful lawyer and land baron of thousands of acres on the island of kaua’i. elizabeth was in a motorboat accident, and is lying in a coma in queen’s hospital. matt king then learns that she’ll never wake up, and he has NO IDEA how to tell his two daughters, scottie and alex. (one is around 10? and the other is 16) in fact, he has NO IDEA how to be a parent to his daughters, since that was his wife’s job and he even calls himself the “backup parent”. he pays an impromptu visit to his daughter’s boarding school, and finds out that she is abusing alcohol and possibly drugs, and learns that alex fought constantly with elizabeth. alex finally spills the beans, and tells her clueless/workaholic father that elizabeth was cheating on him with a younger man. matt investigates by asking his friends about this mystery man, and it turns out to be...a guy named brian speer. (matthew lillard ALL GROWN UP from scooby doo!) all this is happening, yet there’s another wrench in the storyline... matt king is the descendant of a hawaiian princess who had married a caucausian banker baaaaack in the day, and he is the sole trustee of a family trust that controls 25,000 acres. the trust will expire in 7 years because of the rule against perpetuities, so the king family has decided to sell the land to a land developer named don holitzer. well, ultimately the decision is all his, so... it doesn’t help his decision when he learns that brian speer is don holitzer’s brother-in-law, and he stands to make mucho $$$$$ from commissions when the land is sold. ;)

like i said, alexander payne does it yet AGAIN! words to describe this movie: heartbreaking, bittersweet, sarcastic, realistic! if you’ve ever had to pull the plug on a loved one, this movie does it right. the relationship dynamic between matt and his daughters is quite realistic, which makes the movie more enjoyable. add the wonderful hawaiian music soundtrack... VERY GOOD. A MUST-WATCH for those who like the realistic comedy/dramedy genre. ;)