The Descendants

The Descendants is the best OK movie I've seen all year.

Well, let me explain. The Descendants is better than OK. There are a lot of really good things about it, particularly George Clooney and both young actresses who play his daughters. But as a whole, the film is just kind of there, never really reaching the emotional level that I've come to expect from Alexander Payne.

Maybe I was expecting more than I should have, but for me, this movie is just there. And for a movie that's dealing with family, marriage, cheating and perhaps most importantly, how to deal with tragedy, I expect to have more of a reaction.

I can't quite put my finger on it either. There are a number of very real and honest moments in the film, all of which Clooney nails, but something is lacking. It may have something to do with the fact that Clooney and his family are all very rich, and one of the big problems he is dealing with is whether or not to hold onto a huge piece of land in the middle of Hawaii or sell it and make a crap load of money. I don't know about you, but I just cannot relate to such a misfortune.

To be fair, the movie never rubs the characters good fortune in our face, but it gave me just enough of a disconnect that I could not find myself getting into the film as much as I wanted to.

The Descendants is not a bad movie but any means, but I cannot for the life of me figure out why so many are insisting its one of the year's best.