The Descendants Reviews

A beautifully touching, tragic and amusing follow-up film from the director of Sideways.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

The Descendants manages to even surpass those stratospheric expectations most fans will have walking into the theatre.

Full Review | Original Score: 10/10

Like "Sideways" and "About Schmidt," "The Descendants" lets Alexander Payne show us the Other America and the Other Americans - little lives caught up in small but epic problems far away from the La La Land of Hollywood hype, sex and violence.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/4

Each year there are usually one or two films that don't deserve all of the insane praise they get (last year's The Fighter is a prime example) and it looks like "The Descendants" is one for this year.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4

Understandable when dealing with Payne's typically directionless protagonists, The Descendants occasionally feels like it is unsure of where it's going, yet it still always ambles along at a pleasant pace regardless.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

A thoroughly rewarding assembled-for-adults dramedy that benefits immensely from both its island locale and one of George Clooney's finest performances.

Full Review | Original Score: A

The Descendants is a devastating and rewarding emotional journey.

Full Review | Original Score: 4.5/5

Will keep you soaked in its melancholy until the very end...

Full Review | Original Score: 4/4

Sort of like a shotgun marriage between Jimmy Buffett and Harry Chapin.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

There's some pretty tricky material for Payne and crew to navigate, but anchored by a terrific cast it's a journey of hurt and healing that lingers.

Full Review | Original Score: A-

overrated, but not a bad movie

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5

"The Descendants" goes on too long, but that's its only flaw. And frankly, I can see why Payne and his editor decided to go with this print instead of making some awfully tough decisions.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

George Clooney gives a wonderful lead performance in his new film The Descendants but Clooney has always been more than just a handsome face, he's a proper movie star and in that old Hollywood tradition, he's also an everyman, one of us.

Full Review | Original Score: 8/10

No doubt the awards hype around the film will get people into cinemas but it doesn't warrant the attention considering Payne's previous work and Clooney has put in much better performances.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5

Payne manages to give the film a lightness that makes it uplifting or at the least fulfilling, rather than depressing.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5

full review at Movies for the Masses

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5

This film is one of the best films of 2011 and should compete for top awards when the Academy Awards roll around.

Full Review | Original Score: A

The sharp wit and commitment to damaged men remain, but with his newfound appreciation of what goes unsaid, The Descendants sees Payne finally becoming the filmmaker many have claimed he was all along.

Full Review | Original Score: 5/5

Payne, whose early features were set in his native Omaha, has always shown an acute if unconventional sense of place.

Full Review

It's rare for a director to strike the right chord with every film but Alexander Payne has managed it.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/5