Elaine and I went to see Alexander Payne’s new film The Descendants last night. It’s a good film, but not nearly as good as Election or Sideways (both of which I love). Tone seems to be the problem here: sometimes we’re in a world of the blackest comedy; sometimes we’re in an upscale Hawaiian version of Raymond Carver territory, with scenes of painful, plainspoken pathos. And sometimes it’s difficult to know whether a line of dialogue is meant to sound overwrought or moving — not because what we’re hearing is unsettling, but because the film seems so uncertain about its intentions.
The performances are excellent; the cinematography (think Hawaii) is beautiful; the soundtrack (Hawaiian guitar music) is a delight. But is this movie really the stuff Oscars are made of? I’m not so sure.
Have you seen The Descendants? Whadja think?
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
The Descendants
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
comments: 5
I thought the elder daughter Shailene Woodley was especially good.
I agree. I can easily imagine a Best Supporting Actress nomination.
I thought it was Payne’s weakest film yet, mainly because it doesn’t balance comedy and pathos as well as his other films. I don’t think I even chuckled once. But who knows, maybe I'll see it again and love it. Other people seem to.
I laughed a few times, but usually when other people weren’t.
P.S.: That was a nice find re: Clay Shirky. I can’t think of him without thinking of his (absurd) claim that “no one” reads War and Peace anymore.
Post a Comment