The Descendants

Movie: The Descendants

Genre: drama - comedy

Synopsis: Matt King (George Clooney) lives in Hawaii and is a direct descendant of King Kamehameha.  He is one of a large group of cousins who are the beneficiaries of a trust (for which Matt is the executor) that includes 20,000 acres of pristine Hawaiian beachfront property. They cousins are preparing to vote on whether or not to sell the land to developers.  As the movie opens, Matt’s wife lies in a coma, following a boating accident.  Matt is wrestling with the prospect of having to pull the plug on her life support. To add to his stress, he must do some repair work on his relationship with his two daughters.

My two cents: I really loved this movie. George Clooney once again shows how good he is at comedy.  Without trying to give too much away, I like the way his older daughter starts out as the daughter-from-hell, but ends up doing quite an about-face and is instrumental in helping her father face the discovery that his wife was not quite the person he thought she was.  The acting was good, there several interesting story lines within the movie – and it was in Hawaii.

[182]