My Oscar Journey!

Day 99: “The Descendants”

“The Descendants” stars George Clooney (Best Actor Nomination) as a man named Matt King, whose wife has recently ended up in the hospital in a coma after a boating accident. The film follows him and his two daughters (played by Shailene Woodley & Amara Miller) as they come to grips with how they are going to handle life after their mother/wife passes away. I really enjoyed this film alot actually, which is surprising because it wasn’t what I was expecting. I thought it was going to have a similar humor that “Sideways” had (also directed by Alexander Payne) but it was definitely more of a quiet character study. George Clooney doesn’t necessarily fit into this film because he can’t seem to shed his “movie stardom”, but he still seems to do the best he can. I was really impressed with Shailene Woodley as his oldest daughter though. I thought she really handled all of her moments really well for what could have been a one dimensional character. I especially loved how she reacts to the news about her mother. I thought that was very well done and it’s a shame that she got left out of the Best Supporting Actress category (even though she got a Golden Globe nomination). The film walked away with the Best Picture-Drama award at the Golden Globes so we’ll see how it fares at the Oscars against the fierce competition of “The Artist”!