Synopsis
With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land baron Matt King takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront a young real estate broker, who was having an affair with Elizabeth before her misfortune.
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Cast
- George ClooneyMatt King
- Shailene WoodleyAlexandra King
- Amara MillerScottie King
- Nick KrauseSid
- Patricia HastieElizabeth King
- Grace A. CruzScottie's Teacher
- Kim GennaulaSchool Counselor
- Karen Kuioka HironagaBarb Higgins
- Carmen KaichiLani Higgins
- Kaui Hart HemmingsMatt's Secretary Noe
- 100
Boxoffice Magazine
The Descendants is that rare bird, moving, enlightening, funny and unapologetically human. It's one of the year's best pictures, one to savor and think about. - 100
The Hollywood Reporter
After a five-year wait since "Sideways," Alexander Payne has made his best film yet with The Descendants. Ostensibly a study of loss and coping with a tragic situation, this wonderfully nuanced look at a father and two daughters dealing with the imminent death of his wife and their mother turns the miraculous trick of possibly being even funnier than it is moving. - 100
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
Heartwarming, tragic and, at times, hilariously funny drama. - 91
IndieWire
The Descendants constantly hovers on the brink of a dark comedy. But it never takes the big plug. By treading carefully, Payne has created his warmest, most earnest work, if not his best. - 90
Variety
Nearly every detail sources directly back to Kaui Hart Hemmings' sensitively crafted novel, and yet, Payne's triumph is in striking the right tone -- and knowing what to leave unsaid. - 88
Slant Magazine
In a development that seemed to begin in earnest with "Sideways," a large part of The Descendents seems to operate on a non-narrative level. - 80
Salon
The Descendants is gentle, witty, audience-friendly entertainment for grown-ups, with a great performance by one of our biggest screen stars. - 80
New York Magazine (Vulture)
Payne is too acerbic - maybe too much of an asshole - to settle for easy humanism. But he's too smart a dramatist to settle for easy derision. Mockery and empathy seesaw, the balance precarious - and thrillingly so. It's the noblest kind of satire: cruel and yet, in the end, lacking the killing blow.