Alexander Payne is as reliable as Pixar and Christopher Nolan, but he's not quite as prolific and he works on a much smaller scale. His track record as a writer-director is virtually flawless, with a filmography that includes Citizen Ruth, Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, and, in 2011, The Descendants.
The only unfortunate thing about Payne's work is that there's not enough of it. Those five movies are the sum total of the features he's directed in his 15-year career. His last movie before this one, Sideways, came out nearly eight years ago. I have to admit, before the trailers for The Descendants started showing up online several months ago, I had kinda forgotten about him.
His movies tend to circulate around less-than-heroic figures, below-average Joes whose troubles are common and familiar and, more often than not, self-inflicted. Most of his protagonists tend to middle-aged men -- or, in the case of About Schmidt, a older-than-middle-aged man -- who are coming to terms with the disappointing lives they've created for themselves. While this is hardly a unique approach for modern cinematic storytelling, Payne's sincere affection for each of the schlubs he's created, even when they don't deserve it, is always refreshing. It's easy to create a loser just to make fun of him. But, that's not how Payne works.
The Descendants is a dramedy staring George Clooney as Matt King, a 40-something lawyer with a wife in a coma who is also a descendant of one of the first white land-owners in Hawaii. As the story unfolds, King is forced to deal with the shortcomings of his relationships with his wife and two daughters as well as decide for his extended family whether to sell their last tract of land to a developer. These two trials, while seemingly unrelated, become entangled in one another until, in the end, it becomes clear that they are, in fact, one in the same.
But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
Early in the film, King learns that his wife, a free spirited, adventurous woman, who was injured in a boat race, has no chance of recovery. Though he knows that his relationship with his wife wasn't what he'd hoped it would be, he is determined to grieve in a manner that is worthy and appropriate, bringing his older rebellious daughter home from boarding school and creating a plan to break the news to friends and family.
It is then that he learns that his wife had been having an affair. This raises some complex questions. How angry should he be? Should he simply forgive her before she dies? And, most immediately, who was the man she was sleeping with and what was the nature of their relationship?
Matt and his oldest daughter, played Shailene Woodley who gives a wonderfully layered performance, decide that they need to find this guy, talk to him, presumably so Matt can do what cuckolded husbands do when they meet the interlopers. Yet, Matt is never sure what he's going to do when he meets the guy. Perhaps meeting him is an end in and of itself.
Intermixed with this storyline is the subplot about the land. Matt's family are anxious to complete the deal so they can add to their riches. Matt is less concerned about all that because, though he has inherited a lot of money from his family, he lives entirely off his own earnings as a lawyer. But, he is the trustee of the land and the decision whether to sell and who to sell to is his to make.
As I mentioned, these two storylines end up overlapping thematically and, more importantly, in Matt's mind. Typically, when movies try these types of devices, they telegraph their metaphors so you can see them coming within the first 15 minutes. Yet, that might be the single most impressive thing about The Descendants. Both plots are unique and complex and told with subtlety and care. Decisions are made through a process of evolution instead of unrealistic epiphanies and catharsis. And, though the ultimate conclusions may seem inevitable, they never seem forced.
Anchoring the whole thing is Clooney's performance, which is one of his best. He is considered the front-runner for this year's Oscar and rightfully so. He's never flashy or over-the-top. There's no loud monologues, facial ticks, or disabilities typical of other awards-bait performances. He's just earnest and committed, allowing the audience to feel the character's pain and frustration and laugh at his awkwardness without ever insulting the our intelligence by spelling it all out. Part of that -- and part of the success of the portrayal of the character -- is good writing, but it wouldn't have worked with a lesser actor.
And, once again, I can't say enough about Woodley's performance as the daughter. Like Clooney's role, hers required an unusual amount of balance. Too much anger and animation, and she's a caricature of an angry teen. Too much stillness and restraint and no one she seems too adult to be believable -- kind of like every character Dakota Fanning has ever played. As I said, this balance is due in some degree to the script, but few actresses could have pulled it off.
All in all, The Descendants is a worthy addition to Alexander Payne's portfolio (though I still think Sideways is his best movie, and Election is probably still my favorite). I hope it's not another eight years before he makes another movie.
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