Paradise is deceptive
according to the opening of this movie by Alexander Payne, and although he's a
great comedy director, there are some down to Earth moments that define this
movie more as a drama rather than a dramedy. The movie opens with a jet ski and
it ends in peace and tranquility. However, the movie is a huge wakeup call to
what defines a comedy. For so long, I've seen some great comedies, and some
that are too immature. This particular comedy has a great deal of sympathy for
the main character and his situation. For a comedy, this movie is very
depressing and serious, much like his last movie, Sideways. For an Alexander Payne movie, there is a real connection
felt with not just the main character, but with several.
The movie is about Matt
King, a descendant from Hawaiian royalty, and despite the title, "The
Descendants," the movie doesn't really dwell in this fantasy like aspect.
Instead, Matt is in a situation where his wife was in a boating accident and might
never recover. Not only that, he now has to take care of his two daughters,
Alexandra, a troublemaker in boarding school, and Scottie, a troublemaker in
elementary school. To top that off, Matt realizes that his wife had cheated on
someone and the movie goes off on a hunt for this mysterious masked lover. Then,
there is Sid's character, who seems to follow the main characters around and is
constantly asking for trouble. Why? Because his name is Sid. At one point, he
starts laughing at someone because of her dementia. Right off the premise, we
see that George Clooney’s character has some responsiblity juggling to do, even
though his juggling talent seems rusty, metaphorically that is.
Because so, there are
some funny situational moments in the film that only this film can deliver. We
see Matt frantically putting on slippers and running over to his friends’ house
after finding out his wife cheated on him. For a comedic situational movie,
this movie is extremely realistic, from the location, to what the characters
would do, to the documentary like footages shown in the beginning. I was
shocked that there are homeless people on the island of paradise. For one, Matt
does indeed find the lover at one point, but we, as the audience, would expect
Matt to beat the living crap out of this guy. Instead, there is hesitation,
skepticism, and a lot of sneaking around. I would be doing the same thing.
We’ve been in
situations before where we are forced to spread the news. I for one hate those
moments where it’s up to me to “pass it on.” Because so, I felt that it was
easier to emote towards Matt and what he had to go through as a father, as a
friend, and as a husband. There’s also the concept of someone on life support,
and although not many people have experienced what it was like to have someone
dear to you on life support, but I have. When I saw this movie, I saw my
grandpa on the bed, rather than Matt’s wife, and to me, those hospital moments
were painful to endure.
The movie does a rich
array of scenic views of Hawaii, as well as the pessimistic view of it. I
personally went there before on Oahu, Kauai, and the Big Island, and I for one
think that the Big Island is overrated. Possibly two-thirds of the island is
all desert and rocks. But aside from that, there is one particular moment where
we do see some landscape images of Hawaii and in its entire splendor. What’s
also interesting is the use of relaxing Hawaiian music that’s really there to
create irony; much like the movie Brazil,
and how the Brazilian theme is used in the dystrophic backdrop.
I was not much of a
huge fan of Sideways, although it was
still a good movie. I never got into the movie because I couldn't relate to
these characters. One was getting married and was on a sexual fling, while the
other one is a failed writer who seems to be in a mid-life crisis. The huge
emphasis is through wine, and like Jack's character, I think they all taste the
same. With The Descendants, there was
more of a personal connection with this movie, and because so, I think this
movie trumps Sideways. We’ve seen
moments where the parents themselves do not know what to do. We’ve seen moments
where even the parents don’t make the right decisions, and it’s important that
this movie depicts a real person, despite him descending from royal ties. What's
more important is that it's truly a remarkable family movie about a
dysfunctional family, done in a realistic way.
I’ve called Alexander
Payne as an overrated director, being that I was not a big fan of his last two
films and his short from Paris Je’Taime,
however, I deeply apologize for that remark and see him as a great director and
over all story teller. There was one line that got me admiring the script. “To
me, my daughters are like the archipelagos of Hawaii in that they are
considered the same family but they are distant apart.” They are all ”There
seems to be a huge buzz over Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 but I see more potential through the adapted
work of this smaller movie, even though the book was probably extremely insignificant
to the Harry Potter books.
No comments:
Post a Comment