THE DESCENDANTS - Movie Review

Alexander Payne makes average movies.

And that’s a good thing.

Maybe, more accurately, he makes brilliant movies spun from the webs of average lives. More than any other director, he celebrates the seemingly mundane. A drug addict considering an abortion. A high school election. A retiree going to his daughter’s wedding. A trip to wine country. And now the story of a grieving father trying to hold together a family he himself has been disconnected from for far too long.

None of these are the scenarios from which Hollywood blockbusters are made. None of these concepts scream out to the creatively challenged corporate board members that now run movie studios that they demand to be released. But somehow Payne continues to get them made. Each one better than the last. Plugging away at the mundane. And in the process, creating the miraculous.

How does he do this? Simple, he can write. Not the paint-by-numbers anybody can be a screenwriter kind of typing mostly done in this town. No, Alexander Payne can write. He creates compelling central characters and is able to see them through deceivingly difficult journeys.

And Matt King’s journey is no less trying.

Played with spectacular honesty by the consistently entertaining George Clooney, Matt’s life is thrown into turmoil in the opening minutes. After his thrill seeking wife is badly injured during a speedboat race, he is suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar role. Father. A strange thing to say about the parent of two young girls. But you see, Matt, as he describes himself, is “the back-up parent.” Like many fathers, he brings home the bacon, but leaves the parental heavy lifting to his wife. So when suddenly appointed the main caregiver, Matt has to quickly adjust to the new demands.

It’s not that he doesn’t want to be a good father. He just doesn’t know how. And life is made both easier and incredibly more difficult by his daughters, especially his eldest daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) who is at the age where she’s no longer a child, yet not quite an adult. Capable of carrying responsibility but not yet emotionally prepared to process all that comes with it.
It’s Matt’s relationship with Alexandra that is at the heart of the film. A shaky relationship that is tested by unexpected events that make average lives into compelling entertainment.

Speaking of average lives, it’s worth pointing out that while Alexander Payne’s protagonists would often be considered side characters in most big budget bonanzas, they often find a way of being played by some of the biggest actors in Hollywood. Clooney, Broderick, Witherspoon, and Nicholson aren’t exactly names to sniff at. But perhaps his greatest skill as a director is being able to make these superstars seem somewhat… ordinary. Off screen, you’d be hard pressed to find someone who would think George Clooney could ever have trouble with women. But on screen, you suddenly believe that Matt King could face such a dilemma.

This is due to the major talents of the underrated George Clooney. Yes, he’s famous. Yes, he’s an international superstar. But sometimes I don’t think he gets enough credit for simply being a tremendous actor. Like the stars of the studio system like Cary Grant, Humphrey Bogart, or Clark Gable, Clooney is well aware of his brand. You are always able to get a small glimpse of George behind the veneer or any of his characters. But, like a seasoned character actor, he’s also able to sink so deeply into a role that you believe for a minute that he is that person.
And “that person,” flawed and humane, strong but weak, honest and vulnerable, and yes average, is what makes “The Descendants” such a terrific film.

It’s a story about everyday people doing their best to make it through each day. After all, isn’t that all any of us are trying to do. And perhaps that’s why this film is so affecting and so worth the price of admission.

Film Review - The Ides of March

If you could win an Academy Award for a combination of performances, this would be Ryan Gosling's year.

In the last month he's played such a wide array of convincing characters that one can't help but to wonder which man Ryan Gosling really is. Is he the strong silent type as he plays so effectively in the brilliant noir thriller "Drive?" Or is he the womanizing loveable cad with a gift for gab he portrays opposite Steve Carrell in "Crazy Stupid Love?" Or, is he something in between.

That might describe the character Gosling plays in his latest masterstroke as the ambitious Stephen Myers in the George Clooney directed political drama "The Ides of March." Stephen isn't the verbose ladies man on the prowl. But he's got enough charm to talk the world's most beautiful intern, Molly Stearns (played by Evan Rachel Wood) into bed. He's a man of few words, like his character in "Drive." And like that character, when he speaks, it's with a distinct purpose. In this case that purpose is to get his candidate elected president of the United States. He's dedicated to his job, and dedicated to his candidate Mike Morris (George Clooney in a thankless role). He's proud of saying that he's a veteran of more political campaigns than most will see in a lifetime. But even the pre-jaded Stephen Myers can't help but fall a little in love with this Democratic wet dream who, not so coincidentally, bears a striking resemblance to Obama circa 2008. Temperament and policy wise, of course. Physically, not so much. But, in case you miss the connection, production designer Sharon Seymour drives home the point with the same kind of pop-art Hope (or in this case Believe) posters that drove Obama's first campaign. Yet, the question remains, can we believe? And, despite the references, this film is by no means a condemnation of the current administration. or any administration for that matter. Instead, the question on Clooney's mind behind the camera seems to be, can we believe in the integrity of anyone? And if we do, is it even possible for any candidate to make it to the White House with that integrity intact? And, if we can't, then what are we all fighting for? Is the object of politics to help the people? Or to get elected?

Far too big a question of course to be answered by one movie. Instead, Clooney chooses to focus on the moral crisis faced by one man. And he wisely chooses to have that man played by Ryan Gosling.

Anyone who's seen "The Notebook" (and yes, that includes you, even though I won't make you admit it out loud) knows that Ryan Gosling is bursting with charisma. He has "It." Whatever "It" is. He holds your attention on screen. Like coming across a tiger in an alleyway. You can't turn away because you want to know what he's going to do next.

But Gosling, like his director and co-star Clooney, has made a career out of harnessing that charisma into characters who are greater parts substance than show. We can see in the way he carries himself that he IS a hardened campaign manager. But we can also see as the story goes along that a bit of that idealist that drove him into politics in the first place still remains. The moral question at the heart of the film is whether or not the two can co-exist.

You'll have to watch the film to find out. Like every element of life circa 2011, you're reaction may be slightly tinged red or blue by your personal politics. But you hardly have to be a bleeding heart liberal to enjoy the film. We've all wondered whether or not idealism can survive the coarse reality of life. If you haven't wondered about that, you're either the sweetest idealist in the history of the world. Or, you're already so jaded that you may just have a future in politics.