'The Descendants' A Review

'The Descendants' is a film about a father whose wife is in a coma. We find out she's not going to recover. She has a living will so Clooney will have to have to turn off her life support. When Clooney brings back his older daughter the 'wild child' she tells him that her mom had been cheating on him before the coma. That's when the movie really begins. The rest of the film is Clooney and his two daughters juggling finding the elusive lover, dealing with the mothers impending death, and a large land deal Clooney is handling for his family.

The film is called 'The Descendants' because Clooney is one of many cousins who collectively own a large underdeveloped property in Hawaii. Originally one of their family had married a local princess and the land has been in their family for years. This subplot is underdeveloped and doesn't make much sense in conjunction with what the film is presumably about, dealing with the death of a loved one(who 'betrayed' the family).

The movie is unclear. It doesn't seem to be about anything because it's trying to be about too much. It's about the death of a family member. It's about infidelity. It's about the gentrification of Hawaii. It's about white socio-economic privilege in the wake of colonialism.The movie is well acted but there are so many balls in the air it doesn't matter.

More confusing than satisfying.

Rent It.