The Descendants

Kmac Review:

With this movie you come for the Clooney and stay for the family drama and in depth explanations of property law. Or at least that’s what you get watching it with me. I really enjoyed this movie. That it represented one of the only areas of law I enjoy was a bonus. The heart, and it was a heart that was breaking, was the story of a family coming to grips with the loss of a wife and mother. All the characters are fully rounded with faults and qualities that make them feel really rounded and makes you care. The teenage daughter may be one of the most fully realized teenage girls I’ve ever seen. She goes through emotions at the speed of light, claiming to not care about her family while making it clear with her actions she does. As a girl forced to grow up too fast you can see the pull between her growing maturity and the child she still is. There is one scene in the movie where she dives in the pool to scream, cry, swim, and let it out. I’ve been there and I bet a lot women will have a similar moment this brings up. In addition the acting the writing is excellent, and for any Community fans was written by the Dean Dean Deany himself. It also got Jmac to watch a family drama and actually enjoy it. Only downside is you or your significant other may feel a sudden urge to move to Hawaii.

I give this movie 5 out of 5 pool cries and a big tub of ice cream.  

Jmac Review:

The Descendants' as my mom says, is a movie that is sometimes really depressing and sometimes really sweet, and I agree completely. While this movie was clearly Oscar bait, it was not near as full of itself as 'The Artist' was. That being said it was an entertaining movie, that tells the story of a man (Clooney) struggling to connect with his two daughters, as his wife lays in a coma, and as he works out how to deal with the family trust, that due to older than socialism (but still really messed up and socialist) perpetuity laws has to come to an end, breaking up the family plot of land. Through the family's dysfunction we see a man that has let far too many things slip through the gaps, to the point that he no longer knows how to effectively address the issues his family faces. Thankfully through the movie he slowly reconnects with estranged members of his family and in the end makes the right choices that bring his family back together. 

 And man is Shailene Woodley fine.

I give it a 3.9 coconuts out of 5