The Descendants (2011)

Since February is close = soon I'll (try to ..) switch to Oscar mode, I said (as usually ..) to try to take some advance on seeing some title on the possible nominees list. Especially considering (again as usually ..) that I have plenty of work to do in the month to come and I don't see how I'll still manage to do a posting marathon, so again I assume I'll cut a bit from the categories I'll focus on. Getting back to the subject, "The Descendants" just grabbed a Globe for "best drama". I didn't see yet any of the other nominees, which are possible to get also on the Oscars list (we'll see on Tuesday) but I have to admit that I started pretty well.

Remember "Sideways" ? It's a movie from 2004 starring Paul Giamatti, which talking about the Oscars picked one for adapted screenplay. If I were to write a blog entry for "Sideways" I'll summarize the subject to something like "a failed drunken writer takes a road trip of one week in the California wine country along with a buddy who's supposed to get married at return; wanna see what happens ? watch the movie". To say more than the mere context would spoil quite a lot from a feeling (which is quite unique among what I've seen so far) that's created as the minutes pass and the film rolls. Why am I talking about "Sideways" ? Because it's directed and written (well, adapted) by the same guy - Alexander Payne, as is also "The Descendants". And, pretty much the same rule applies. So ... "the first week from the life of a pretty family estranged lawyer, who's forced to take a break from the professional activity and cope with the situation created by the absence of his wife gotten into a coma after an accident; wanna see what happens ? watch the movie". I think it's shorter than the synopsis on IMDb so if it's not enough as a subject description check there. Although I would recommend to discover the rest directly from the movie. Why ? ...

Because, as I was saying, you get a pretty unique feeling that's created along the action that develops, feeling that I didn't met in other cases. I really don't have time at the moment to rack my brains to describe exactly what I'm talking about. First you have the location, or better said "the air" of the location that's maximally exploited. Here is Hawaii, in "Sideways" is the California wine valleys. I wasn't in any of the places, but the way the movies are made = people, places, the "air", draws you that much to that area that gets to be a mic of something that looks familiar with something like "I would plan a vacation there" ( maybe a bit more in "Sideways", especially if you like wine :) ). That would be one aspect, leading actually to the second, which is the .. vacation "scent". I could even say that we are talking about a "summer movie". Meaning that the feeling before is augmented with a sensation of relaxation specific to a holiday, in which you seem to forget that you have a deadline tomorrow, or something to finish doing today, etc. That's in contrast with the fact that the characters on screen get continuously into more trouble. I could actually say that the result is pretty interesting as psychological effect ( well .. at least for me who I'm not completely right in my head :) ), but I'll stop here before I'll start getting completely out of sense.

To be short, everything else that's related to the movie making = soundtrack, cinematography, acting, on top with the directing, is supporting what I tried to describe above. Alexander Payne in my opinion, although I've seen only two of his movies, manages to get the best combination of comedy with drama nowadays as a defined style kept from one title to another. Is something that also Woody Allen keeps doing from I don't know how many years ago but at least for me it's not really working, starting actually to being a bit bored by the same types of dialogues and characters (as in "Midnight in Paris", since we're talking about titles having nomination potential). But well, this is firstly based on personal preference.

That's pretty much about it. The rest of the aspects I'll leave for the entries that will be related to the Oscar nominations, if it will be the case. Speaking about this, I'll come back Tuesday with the list, as every year, after which I guess I'll take a weekend off from posting in order to watch some titles included there so I'll have a subject to write after. Getting back to the current subject, as a final verdict, for me "Sideways" is still the masterpiece. "The Descendants" is good, but I don't see it at the same level. So, considering this, if you didn't see any of them and you want to, I'll recommend to start with the one I'm currently writing about. Otherwise, you might involuntarily make a comparison and to see it lower than it is. On the other hand .. if I give more thought, I assume it's again pretty subjective/personal which of them gets more to your heart.

Rating: 4 out of 5