It’s been a little while since we last saw something from George Clooney’s The Descendants, but it certainly hasn’t dropped off the radar, and it’s one of the films I’m most looking forward to seeing next year.
With George Clooney’s The Ides of March having now its release, making a fantastic impression, we can now pave the way for his next film – this time in an acting role only, with Alexander Payne taking the helm – which looks to be deservedly tipped to head straight for the Oscars at the start of next year.
“Synopsis: From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning SIDEWAYS, set in Hawaii, THE DESCENDANTS is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty and missionaries.”
Along with Clooney, the film has a terrific cast that includes Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Beau Bridges, and Robert Forster, as well as Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, and Nick Krause in the younger roles.
Deadline have a great new featurette from the film, entitled ‘On Set in Hawaii’, and Fox Searchlight have put out another brilliant featurette, entitled ‘Acting & Character’, as well as a great clip, entitled ‘Mom Was Cheating On You’, via their YouTube channel.
The film, co-written by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash, adapted from Kaui Hart Hemmings’ original novel, is Payne’s first time in the director’s chair on a feature film since 2004’s Sideways, and it’s been getting some tremendous reviews already after screenings at a number of film festivals across the world.
The US is lucky enough to have had The Descendants since the middle of this week, but we’ve sadly got to wait until 27th January next year to watch it. It definitely looks like it’s going to be well worth the wait, and at the very least, we’ll have had it in time for the Oscars to think for ourselves about its (undoubtedly exceptional) merits should it be nominated and/or awarded. My hope are high, but I think not without good reason.
Without further ado, I’ll leave you with the great new featurettes for the film, followed by the excellent new clip, in which Clooney discovers that his wife has been cheating on him, hearing it for the first time from his eldest daughter. The clip itself is pretty sad, which I think is exactly why it’s so great, showing us how well it’s been done, and the brilliance we can expect from it when it arrives. I can’t wait.
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