I cried, really cried, twice when I saw The Descendants. Once because I was laughing so hard that my laughter turned to tears (not unlike several other people in our crowded theater), and once because the scene was that sad. A movie like The Descendants is hard to come by. It’s full of so many emotions, I don’t think I could name them all. From grief to laughter to gut-wrenching pain to to anger, the movie is a beautiful portrait of a family in crisis. George Clooney plays Matt King, a man dealing with the consequences of his wife’s boating accident. She lies in a coma, and nobody knows what will happen next. He brings his daughter Alex (Shailene Woodley) back from boarding school to help take care of his youngest daughter, 10-year old Scottie (Amara Miller). King and his cousins come from a line of royalty, with blood ties to the Hawaiian islands. As the three of them attempt to deal with their grief, more family secrets come out, secrets that could further tear the family apart. The director, Alexander Payne, does an admirable job of making what could be a melodrama into a graceful, very real look at a family grieving.
Clooney is great, and actually quite restrained at some times, as Matt King. He can convey so much emotion with just a look, and he 
broke my heart towards the end of the movie (my second episode of crying). But his subtlety fit perfectly with the tone of this movie. The daughters were wonderful. Woodley is a lot of fun to watch, as the rebel child who tries to reconcile her grief with her feelings of anger towards her mom. It’s really nice to watch her wrestle with these different feelings, and all the while be a rock for her younger sister and help her dad with his issues. Scottie, the youngest daughter, is a firecracker. She is a big source of comic relief in the film, but her dramatic chops are not wasted at all. She is a talented young kid. The interaction between Clooney & Woodley was one of my favorite parts of the movie. The two shine in their scenes together, and at points, the phrase “like father, like daughter” was very accurate and heartwarming. One of the things that unites these two is a secret of the film (revealed fairly early, but I still don’t want to spoil it here), and it’s great to watch them take the journey together as they try to find out more and uncover the whole story.
Another actor who really brings some of the more funny and lighthearted moments to this movie is Nick Krause, who plays Alex’s 
friend Sid. His presence is unexplained for almost half the film; he is simply stated to be a good friend of Alex’s. Sid’s goofiness is at once endearing and funny, and prompts several laugh-out-loud moments during the movie. These moments are a much-needed reprieve from the tense, serious nature of other scenes. Krause brings a lot to the character of Sid. He could be that stoned guy with the one-liners, but he becomes much more than that thanks to Krause. Sid’s one serious scene is perfectly played and understated, and throughout the rest of the movie his comedic timing and wit are sharp.
My lasting impression of The Descendants was that it was very true. The vast range of emotions experienced by the characters were very real and genuine. Payne created an incredibly honest story about a family dealing with grief, and the actors brought even more to a well-crafted script. I found myself wondering, “what’s next?” for these characters, which I think is one of the best things anyone can ask of a movie.
The Road to Medical School 