The Descendants

The Descendants, starring George Clooney, is a sad movie about a man whose wife is in a coma after getting into a boating accident.  Him and his two daughters (Shailene Woodley; The Secret Life of the American Teenager and Amara Miller; first film) set off on an adventure to find the man his wife had an affair with, which he finds out about from his daughter Alexandra (Woodley). While this is happening, with his many cousins, he is trying to figure out what to do with land that had been passed down to his family through generations.  They have seven years to make a decision before the trust containing the land disappears.  I didn't really understand the reason for the family losing the trust, so unfortunately I can not get into more detail.  I fell in love with this film right away seeing as it takes place in Hawaii, and I have an obsession with Hawaii even though I've never been.  Although, I had a hard time taking Matthew Lillard (Scream; She's All That) seriously, the film pretty much had me in tears by the end.

The Descendants is nominated for five awards.  They are Best Picture, Best Director (Alexander Payne; Sideways, About Schmidt), Best Film Editing, Best Performance by a Lead Actor, and Best Writing (Adapted Screenplay; its based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings).

I think this film was really good and has a chance of winning most, if not all, of these awards.  The acting was great.  I loved the relationship between Matt King (Clooney) and his daughters.  He was this man that had no idea how to raise his two daughters plus his wife, whom he loved very much, was cheating on him.  I really felt bad for him, especially when his father in law kept blaming the accident on him.  The characters were very well developed and believable.  As for the character of Sid (Nick Krause, not in anything worth noting), he was probably my favorite character because he reminded me of friends I had in high school.  I do wish Woodley had gotten a nomination for Best Supporting Actress because she did a great job for someone so young.  I've never seen an episode of her show, but I'm pretty sure that character is a completely different person.  I think she pulled it off well.  She helped make that relationship between Alexandra and Matt so great.  I wish I had that same kind of relationship with my father.  I liked this film a lot, and if it doesn't win Best Picture, I hope it at least wins Best Director.