[Review] The Descendants (8/10)

When director Alexander Payne said this was George Clooney's performance of a lifetime, I wasn't sure I agree. But one thing's for sure, I have never seen Clooney in a similar role before. 

No doubt his performance was wonderful and heartfelt, but comparing to his other movie of the same year, The Ides Of March, I still preferred his performance there.

Also I didn't agree with the title. The Descendants sounded more like a horror than a drama, but of course that's just me.

Payne being Payne - an expert in creating a character drama - wrote and told this story beautifully as well. He also brought out the best in Shailene Woodley whom I would say gave the performance of her lifetime. 

And being the genius that Payne is, he added Nick Krause and made him looked so out of place that every time he appeared with the King clan, I couldn't help but giggle.

So even though the tone of the movie was somewhat sombre, the pace was alive and a lot of humour thrown into it.