Quick & Dirty Reviews

The Descendants (3 out of 5)

With his wife Elizabeth on life support after a boating accident, Hawaiian land owner Matt King (George Clooney) takes his daughters on a trip from Oahu to Kauai to confront the young real estate broker, who was having an affair with his wife before her accident. The Descendants is an odd film, it doesn't dwell on the sadness of the situation so much as the journey of acceptance the family must go through. But while characters reminisce and cry there is a surprisingly funny aspect of the film that follows King and his oldest daughter as they piece together the hidden life of the wife/mother they didn't quite know. The best part of the film is without a doubt the performances which are all layered in such a way that makes you think these characters may be disturbed on some level but instead are just some of the realest depiction of human emotion in a film. They all deal with their tragedy in ways that oftentimes leads to hilariously embarrassing but surreal situations. There is nothing new about the story itself, people coming to terms with the death of a loved one has been done before, but there is something really special about Clooney's performance in this film that feels tangible and realistic; as he is sometimes furious with his late wife's actions but also saddened at her current state. It's a restrained performance that nonetheless feels more authentic to the situation than typical movie melodrama. 


The Artist (4 out of 5)

The Artist aspires to both enlighten as well as praise the silent movie era. Director Michel Hazanavicius has an impeccable talent for loving recreation with such attention to detail as how the lighting is implemented and what film stock is used. Silent films are notoriously hard to get through, at least nowadays anyways, but the infectiously charming performs of Jean Dujardin as the once great star who has lost his way during the renaissance of the "talkies" is captivating. Dujardin has an expressiveness to his face that lends itself well to this type of film, his eyebrow raising alone brings along with it tons of laughs. But there is a dramatic and surprisingly dark story-arch- maybe to dark even- that shows off Dujardin's incredible dramatic range as well. But the real star of the show is not the charming lead, the perky and adorable young starlet, or even the films loving homage to the era, nope it's the highly talented puppy. This little energetic pup brings all the laughs and is even a pivotal friend to Dujardins character when he is ready to quite literal pull the trigger. Overall The Artist does an incredible job at recreating and even outdoing the great silent films of that era, it's a film any movie lover would greatly appreciate and it does it all while being charming, funny, and surprisingly touching.