2011 films: #4-3

#4 The Descendants


After his wife suffers a horrendous boating accident, Hawaiian landowner Matt King (George Clooney) suffers a horrendous realization at the hands of his daughter Alex (American Teenager's Shailene Woodley) : his wife had been having an affair. He had no idea. This news comes amidst King and his entire family being on the brink of selling a huge piece of their land to investors; they are the descendants of former Hawaiian royalty. The entire island seems to know about and be affected by the impending decision. "So what are you gonna do, Matt?" is a common question from the plebes.

King is of course a little sidetracked by the bomb that has been dropped and rather than deal fully with the land issue, he works on figuring out who this other meddling guy is. After he gets a lead on the extracurricular lover's whereabouts, he and Alex, his younger daughter Scottie (Amara Miller), and comical relief surfer dude Sid (Nick Krause)-who may or may not be Alex's boyfriend-take a trip to one of the other islands for a "vacation" so that they can track him down and confront him. King comes to find out that despite his best attempts, even his wife's lover is intertwined in the potential land deal. As the trustee among several cousins with their own ulterior motives, and people that continue to seemingly come out of the woodwork, the sale of the land is continually stressful. The news about his wife could  not have come at a worse time-or could it have?

The Descendants is flat out great. It's Alexander Payne's first film since the wine-country romp Sideways, and it is even more smart and much more touching than its predecessor. Krause is a joy as the party crasher who is deeper than his exterior leads you to believe. Beau Bridges (Jeff's brother) is both gregarious and conniving as cousin Hugh, constantly leaning on Matt to sell to the best potential developers. Woodley is a revelation as an angry and rebellious teenager who gives her father strength he didn't quite know he had. And then there's Sir George. He's a father who's as clueless about fatherhood as he is about his wife's infidelity, a trustee that's nowhere near as confident as he projects, and as a potential collector of revenge, he's not even quite sure what to do with it once it is in his grasp. This is Clooney's Oscar to lose; a hospital scene towards the end of the film is what locks it up in my opinion. He is completely believable, and so, somewhat uncommonly, is the film.

#3 The Artist


It all seemed like a gimmick to me. A silent film in 2011? Why, exactly? What is the point of stepping that far back?

Then I saw it, and it was stupendous.

Michael Hazanavicius' story follows George Valentin (Jean Dujardin), and his Jack Russell terrier Jack (skateboarding super dog Uggie) silent movie mega-star(s) in the year 1927. After a big premiere, he comes out to welcome his adoring fans and ends up bumping into Peppy Miller (Bernice Bejo, Hazanavicius' real life wife). They have a moment, and soon all of the papers are wanting to know--who's this mystery woman linked to the beloved George Valentin? Before too long, she is a backup dancer in one of his films and eventually works her way up to a starring role. Her trajectory goes on to overtake his, and as the world takes new shape, silent pictures get left behind by "talkies". Peppy Miller adjusts and Valentin does not. So while there is a love connection, it gets complicated by jealousy and the fear of change. They will work their way back together, but not without a few tears, laughs and life-threatening situations.

This movie would probably not succeed if it were not for Jean Dujardin. He does not let the fact that he can't talk get in the way of being completely effective and engaging. I couldn't help but grin at his enjoyment and hang my head at his moments of shame and desperation. He had a face that was equally evocative for the highs and lows, which is tough to pull off. While the supporters (Bejo, cigar-puffing John Goodman, and especially Uggie), the music, and the excellent cinematography helped to take us back in time, none more so than Dujardin. If it weren't for Clooney's turn in The Descendants, it's his statue.