Mixing comedy and drama is a perilous task, but Alexander Payne makes it look like he could do it in his sleep in his remarkable new film “The Descendants.” An absolute triumph of writing and directing, he finds the humor in the tragic situations and gravity in the funniest moments. His pathos is unconventional and unexpected, leaving his words and messages lingering in your head for days.
Just like some of Payne’s previous films like “Election” and “About Schmidt,” he chooses to tell the story through the eyes of a prickly protagonist. In “The Descendants,” it’s Matt King (George Clooney), the owner of a massive Hawaiian land inheritance. After his unfaithful wife lapses into a coma after a freak boating accident, Matt must come to terms that he has been absent as the head of his family. His role as the “understudy” comes to bite him in the butt as he is forced to assume both parenting roles actively on short notice.
Payne’s screenplay (which he co-wrote with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash) begins its narrations through voice-overs from Matt that illuminate his thoughts. We get a chance to fully grasp his frustrations, his anxieties, and his fears before we really get down in the mud with him during these trying times. The narration slowly disappears as the movie progresses, but that hardly means we lose our connection to Matt. Instead, Payne wisely trusts leading man George Clooney to take over control of communicating his character to the audience.
Marshall and the Movies 
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