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  Manisha Lakhe

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Just because you live in paradise doesn't mean that your life cannot be dysfunctional. Matt King lives in Hawaii and he's got a family you would get down on your knees and thank the Gods you haven't got. But …

Just because you live in paradise doesn't mean that your life cannot be dysfunctional. Matt King lives in Hawaii and he's got a family you would get down on your knees and thank the Gods you haven't got. But this a story that is like a wet dream for screenwriting teachers. It's a story where characters grow, where the plot unfolds in textbook like precision, the meet cute happens at the right time and the three acts are distinctly written. But I ramble.



First things first. George Clooney manages the impossible here. He plays a father to two girls, ten and seventeen years old. And in spite of the grey in his hair, he retains the godlike status, like he deserves the title of 'one of the sexiest men on our planet'. The self-deprecating humor in his monologue (he says, 'Most rich men in Hawaii dress like beach bums.') makes every woman in the audience go, 'Aww!'. And to top that, he looks adorably helpless when his daughters talk back to him, defying his authority.

But when the story unfolds and you watch him confront infidelity in an almost human manner, you realise slowly that he is the man who co-wrote acted in and directed another fine film Ides Of March at the same time that this movie was being filmed. How does he do it, you wonder, but only momentarily.



The two daughters have not only a tempestuous relationship with their mostly absent, background parent, but they have a stormy one with each other as well. They have depended on their mother for parenting and now that parent lies in hospital in a coma after a boating accident. They resent their dad, but then, like I said, the script takes a turn to mending of the fences between the now almost single parent and the children.



The Descendants is so named because there is a larger context of inheritance involved as well. It's not just Matt's wife's will to be executed, but also Matt's own ancestral property that is on the block. He is rich, but should he choose to become richer? His wife's imminent death brings forth all kinds of questions. And the movie is about finding answers to those questions on marriage and love and parenting and inheritance. The metaphors are so brilliantly planted in your head that the film takes over your being as you begin to not just empathise with Matt King, but rationalise his decisions as well.



It's been a while since any character manages to pull you into his story and embroil you in his desicions. I was so outraged at his calm acceptance of stupidities of his daughter's friend, I almost voiced my opinion aloud like Shakespear's front row rabble, hissing at the screen, 'Pull the car over, Matt and slap that boy!' But he's a better man (sigh!) and he lets his daughter realise that for herself.

Needless to say that the characters grow as the story develops. You too become a part of the story and are drenched by the emotions on screen. Thankfully, there is no melodrama or emotional manipulation. It deserves its Golden Globes and am happy to say that it will make news when the annual Oscars are given.