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The Descendants (2011)

R  |   |  Comedy, Drama  |  9 December 2011 (USA)
7.4
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Ratings: 7.4/10 from 192,207 users   Metascore: 84/100
Reviews: 427 user | 538 critic | 43 from Metacritic.com

A land baron tries to reconnect with his two daughters after his wife is seriously injured in a boating accident.

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(screenplay), (screenplay), 2 more credits »
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Title: The Descendants (2011)

The Descendants (2011) on IMDb 7.4/10

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Won 1 Oscar. Another 77 wins & 116 nominations. See more awards »

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Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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Sid
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Grace A. Cruz ...
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Karen Kuioka Hironaga ...
Carmen Kaichi ...
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Cousin Ralph
Matt Esecson ...
Cousin Hal
...
Cousin Milo
Stanton Johnston ...
Cousin Stan
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Storyline

Matt King's family has lived in Hawaii for generations. His extended family - namely he and his many cousins - own 25,000 acres of undeveloped land on Kauai held in trust, which ends in seven years. The easiest thing for the family to do is sell the land before the seven years is up, which is all the talk in the state, as, to whom they sell the property could very well change the face of Kauai. Despite the vast wealth that comes with the land, Matt has decided to live solely on what he earns as a Honolulu lawyer. However, Matt has not had a perfect life living in Hawaiian paradise as many believe. He and his wife Elizabeth were having problems in their marriage. She recently got into a boating accident which has placed her in a coma. Their seventeen year old daughter Alex is in boarding school on the big island since they couldn't handle her rebellion, which was made all the worse by an argument of an unknown nature between mother and daughter during Alex's last visit home. And their ... Written by Huggo

Plot Summary | Plot Synopsis

Genres:

Comedy | Drama

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language including some sexual references | See all certifications »

Parents Guide:

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Details

Official Sites:

| |  »

Country:

Language:

Release Date:

9 December 2011 (USA)  »

Also Known As:

Los descendientes  »

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$7,345,720 (USA) (18 November 2011)

Gross:

$82,624,961 (USA) (27 April 2012)
 »

Company Credits

Show detailed on  »

Technical Specs

Runtime:

Sound Mix:

| |

Color:

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1
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Did You Know?

Trivia

The first time Alexander Payne has worked with small children. See more »

Goofs

As Matt is running down the beach when Brian approaches, the beach is "natural". As Brian passes, the beach over Matt's shoulder has been raked, specifically where Brian is running. As Matt turns and chases Brian, the beach is "natural" again. See more »

Quotes

[first lines]
Matt King: My friends on the mainland think just because I live in Hawaii, I live in paradise. Like a permanent vacation. We're all just out here sipping Mai Tais, shaking our hips, and catching waves. Are they insane?
See more »

Connections

Features March of the Penguins (2005) See more »

Soundtracks

The Yodel Song
Written by Gary Haleamau
Performed by Kanak Attack
See more »

Frequently Asked Questions

See more (Spoiler Alert!) »

User Reviews

 
Was honestly expecting more
14 January 2012 | by (Australia) – See all my reviews

This is a great movie, no doubt about it. But given the combination of golden globe, Oscar buzz and positive feedback on IMDb, I expected much more.

The story and the premise of the movie is perfect. In fact, the tagline caught my attention enormously: "trying to reconnect with daughters." That is exactly the type of movie I like. Instantly, I could tell this was a movie about character development and human connection, usually the type of movies with the greatest potential.

Unfortunately, it was merely decent, but not special. It felt like the movie built up so much potential, but failed to release it at a certain point during the movie. The whole movie, for me, felt too introductory in nature. Not necessarily the plot, because the plot does evolve, but the overall "feel" of the movie felt preliminary to a bigger and more dramatic event which never happened.

It's not easy to explain my feelings towards the movie because the fault wasn't necessarily technical or specific. But it did linger around and distracted my viewing somewhat. I felt like there was still more to explore in both Clooney's character and the character of his daughters. Also, I think this element alone impacted on Clooney's performance. His performance was good, definitely, but again, because I felt like there was more to be explored, naturally, I also felt like his performance could have been added to (but not necessarily improved).

Given the Oscar buzz of this movie, I have to compare it to other movies of a similar nature. And unfortunately, I didn't feel like there was sufficient connection between the characters...although the potential to reach that connection was established, it was not acted upon in my opinion. Unfortunately I have to say there have been better developed "re-establishing connection" movies.

In summary, this is an enjoyable movie, but it is missing some important elements which deteriorates the viewing experience to some extent.


194 of 281 people found this review helpful.  Was this review helpful to you?

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Recent Posts
Yet, another mislabeled movie windquake
Great movie if you're an adult lynfoster
Where are the Hawaiian people? jorgenson-s
Did anyone else think this was just plain terrible? Boing_Boing
Bad dialogue. Bad acting. Bad editing. Bad everything? kareldc2
Shaeline garethrh
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