Nominated for Best Picture, The Descendants has come to home video. It’s a film that features very good acting, directing and a heartwarming plot. The blu-ray combo pack has double discs a Blu-ray and DVD with a Digital Copy to download.
The story surrounds Matt King (George Clooney) an out of touch family man with two girls. His dealings keep him entrenched in his business, especially a piece of family property that could bring millions to his siblings and himself. In a freak boat racing accident his wife Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie) suffers extreme body damage and drifts into a coma. After some time and medical attention the doctors deliver the news that she will never awaken.
Grief Striken, Matt tries to find a way to tell the relatives he has to pull the plug. His daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) has no qualms in the matter telling her father that Elizabeth has been cheating on him. With this news, a vital decision on the property and the eminent death of his wife, Matt tries to sort it all out in a very remarkable way.
Clooney has the right persona to play Matt and you may even feel he’s type cast for the part. His easygoing demeanor with quick change of temperament and then sad sack really fits in nicely here. His daughters played by Shailene Woodley as Alexandra and Amara Miller as Scottie really help the film being very good supporters in Matt’s bid to make everything right. But a stand out performance by Nick Krause as Sid, Alexandra’s boyfriend, makes the film work with the necessary comic relief that in some cases imbue belly laughter.
Director/Writer Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt) does a very good job of moving his film along with ease as he spools out the heartbreaking story, adding just the right amount of comedy so it doesn’t become maudlin. His ability to find the right mix of actors to carry out the startling turn of events while keeping the believability factor within reason, serves testimony to his fine directing.
The Descendents was nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Actor (George Clooney). It took home what feel is the best award a film can get, Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay proving the storyline was the best of the 2011 films.
Special Bonus features abound on Blu-ray disc, including:
- Deleted Scenes with introductions by the director
- Everybody Loves George
- Working with Alexander
- The Real Descendants
- Hawaiian Style
- Casting
- Working with Water
- Music Videos:
- “Will I Ever See You Again”
- Postcards from Paradise
- “Honolulu’s Whisper”
- Waiting for the Light
- The World Parade – Hawaii (Silent Film)
- A Conversation with George Clooney and Alexander Payne
The Descendants DVD Features:
- Everybody Loves George
- Working with Alexander
- Hawaiian Style
- Digital Copy of the Film via iTunes
FINAL ANALYSIS: A very good film with interesting characters and plot. [rating=4]
The Specifications and additional film information for the Blu-ray Combo pack :
“The Descendents”
- Cast: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, and Patricia Hastie
- Directed by: Alexander Payne
- MPAA Rating: R for language including some sexual references
- Genre: Drama, Comedy and Adaptation
- Running Time: 1 hr 55 min
- Street Date: March 13, 2012
- Original Theatrical Release Date: November 18th, 2011
- Language: English
- Audio: English 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio (DVD- 5.1 Dolby Digital)
- Video: Color, 16:9, Widescreen 2.40:1
- Disc Capacity: 50GB Duel Layer (DVD- Duel Layer)
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, and Spanish
- Distributed by: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
