The Descendants (2011): a typically Payne-ful but forgettable flick.

Alexander Payne, best known for his low-key life-crisis films Sideways and About Schmidt, stays in his comfort zone with this film but opts for a slightly more family-friendly style.

The Descendants follows the story of a middle-aged Hawaiian lawyer Matt (George Clooney) whose wife has been knocked into a coma and will eventually die.  As he struggles to bring his somewhat dysfunctional family together to deal with her impending death, he finds out his wife was cheating on him.  The backdrop to this is an on-going legal process in which his wider family are trying to agree on whether to sell a sizeable and beautiful piece of Hawaiian land inherited from royal ancestry.

This film delivers a sentimental human drama whilst avoiding clichés.  The trailer and opening sequence states this as the premise: “my friends think that just because we live in Hawaii, we live in paradise.  Are they insane?  How can they possibly think our families are less screwed-up, our heartaches less painful?” etc.  The picture does seem a little too sugar coated though.  Its saccharine idealism overpowers the raw edge and potency which typifies Payne’s earlier films, such as Election. 

I get the feeling that even though I can relate to the characters on an emotional level, there’s still an irreconcilable gulf between me and the Hawaiian upper-classes on a material level.  I subconsciously dismiss the film as self-contained escapist cinema, making it as forgettable as it is enjoyable.  It's one of those films where you feel like you've really enjoyed the experience, but can't remember much of it afterwards.

It still retains Payne’s unique essence, however.  His originality, off-beat humour, lovably flawed characters, understated action and witty dialogue. The story world is very rich, but delivered in an easily digestible plot.  Seeing the seemingly emotionally inarticulate protagonist deal with the complex social pressures bearing down on him is sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking, but always entertaining.  While not as cutting as some of his earlier films The Descendants adds another refreshingly frank and plausible feature to Payne’s consistently commendable filmography.