Friday, December 9, 2011

The Descendants

3 Paws
Seen recently at Film Streams

Omaha has the heart of a small town. It wears its love for native filmmaker Alexander Payne on its sleeve, as evidenced by the genuine excitement surrounding the pre-Thanksgiving premiere of his latest effort at Film Streams (where he also happens to serve on the independent theatre's board of directors).

I count myself among the Payne faithful because I like the quiet realism of his films. On that note, "The Descendants" doesn't disappoint. The heavy Oscar hype that preceded its release, though, made it a bit difficult to live up to its billing.

The relationship between Matt King (George Clooney) and his daughters was more than enough to hold my attention. I found the Hawaiian land baron plot line somewhat distracting, as I did the casting of Shaggy (Matthew Lillard) as the 'other man.' I couldn't help wonder where the Scooby van was every time he spoke - zoinks.

It's going to be pretty hard to top "Sideways."

Bonus Bones: 3
If you look closely, you'll see three dogs in the background of several shots.

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