Not that he would care two hoots what I think, but I owe George Clooney an apology.
In my Derby Telegraph column this week, I said that I didn't think he was as deserving as others of an Oscar nomination because he always plays...George Clooney.
I take it back. I am still outraged that neither Leonardo Dicaprio nor Michael Fassbender were shortlisted but Clooney was worth it for his portrayal of Matt King in The Descendants.
It's understandable that many people might find Alexander Payne's film just so-so. After all, it rarely gets out of first gear and its subject matter is very dark.
But it touched a nerve for Mrs W and me in a bagful of different ways.
The storyline is this: King's wife is in a coma after a speed boat accident and it soon becomes apparent that she is not coming around.
But, as he prepares for her passing, he has to deal with the reaction of his two daughters, her obnoxious father and dementia-suffering mother as well as her lover (that is not a spoiler - it is in the trailer).
It is an unpromising premise but Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash's screenplay of Kaui Hart Hemmings' novel is just terrific and certainly worthy of its Oscar nomination too.
I was as near to shedding a tear during The Descendants as for any movie in the last few years for the following reasons:
Firstly, it was so near the mark when it addressed the drawn out passing of a loved one. Mrs W's sister and mother died last year. We knew it was inevitable on both counts but that doesn't make it easy or even the blessing we tried to persuade ourselves they were because they ended their pain.
Secondly, as a middle-aged man with and 18-year-old daughter, I felt every moment of King's relationship with his 17-year-old daughter Alex (the super Shailene Woodley).
I hasten to add that isn't because Miss W is nearly as wilful (although she can be) but because her middle-aged dad can't stop saying the wrong things to her (how I know that feeling).
Incidentally, Miss W also has a cooky boyfriend, who we like very much, but struggled at first to say the right things around our family last summer in the way Alex's fella (the hilarious Nick Krause) does. Both got it right in the end.
What The Descendants gets so right was the humour in dealing with death. It seems odd on reflection but people do laugh in the midst of tragedy.
But what gave me the biggest lump in the throat is that it made me really think what on earth life would be like without Mrs W - unbearable.
Laughs: no laugh out loud moments for us but a fair few sniggers.
Jumps: none
Vomit: none
Nudity: none
Overall rating: 8.5/10
0 Comments