The Descendants

Now that eight movies get nominated for Best Picture every year, it's perhaps lost it's luster, but I still felt like it meant something. I'm a George Clooney fan and figured it was on HBO, so why the hell not? This was a 1.75 hour long stomach punch, only the pain was slow release. It was simply unimpressive for the most part. They have the beautiful backdrop of Hawaii to rely on, but that's about the only part that I enjoyed. There's a great cast of people you'll recognize, but I found it unspectacular. Matt Lillard, Clooney, and Shailene Woodley (the real star of this) carry it, but only so far. The story is Clooney's wife gets in a boating accident that causes her to be in a coma. Clooney is forced to face the reality that he isn't very close to his daughter's and knows very little about their lives, or his wife's. He attempts to carry everyone through the tragedy as it a lot of things unfold all around him. It really missed me on all levels, but apparently other people like it. Bottom Line: 6.6 out of 10. Saved by a good cast, I really felt no connection to the story.