Watch the first 10 minutes of this movie and one thing is amply clear…there is no intention to hurry things up. So if a character has to walk the length of the room, you see him/ her doing exactly that, taking their time.
Clocking at close to two hours, the Descendants is slow, but by no means a tedious watch. The brilliant thing the director has done, is to offer no explanation. As is the rare occasion, this director (Alexander Payne) believes that he is catering to a smart audience, one that will want to figure things out on its own rather being spoon-fed every scene and its message. For those who are looking for a no-brainer, slapstick comedy..its best to stop reading now itself…The Descendants is clearly not for you.
What The Descendants, looks to offer is a heart rendering story of a man or rather, a family caught in circumstance and how they struggle to deal with it. This is not your feel-good happy story with a fairy-tale ending. The situations shown in the movie are very real and the build up is just right. If you choose not to ponder over what is being shown, not to explore each scene at a deeper level, most of the scenes would make no sense. But if you do, you get to witness a truly well thought-out plot with each scene having its own emphasis, its own meaning. The writing of the movie is right up there, with some dialogues piercing your heart and others getting your funny bone tickled every now and then
What does dampen the spirit of The Descendants is the somewhat shaky climax and some part of the second half, that maybe doesn’t deliver as much, which is really a pity cause there was such potential.
However, that in itself, is no reason to keep you away from this well made movie. George Clooney pulls of a complex character with panache and his confusion, frustration, anguish and regret, are all quite palpable. Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller, who play Clooney’s two daughters, also stand their own and carry off their characters remarkably well
If the slow pacing of the movie is not something that’ll put you off in a movie and you are willing to explore a movie at a deeper level..its high time you ‘descended’ to the theaters to watch this rare good offering.
