I confess I'm not the biggest fan of "The Descendants." But clearly I'm in the minority.
For one, the film is a near lock to nab Oscar nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (George Clooney) and Best Director (Alexander Payne), and could walk away with wins for all three if Academy voters sour on "The Artist." Two, I don't think I've heard crying like that in a theater since "Schindler's List," or perhaps "Jack and Jill." And three, "Descendants" landed in the #9 spot in MTV's list of the best movies of 2011.
My knock against the movie is squarely with Clooney's Matt King, an egocentric, workaholic, absentee father who suddenly discovers he loves his after she suffers a catastrophic brain injury and is going to die. To me, that's not genuine — it's self-delusional and just loathsome. It'd be one thing if the movie made a point of exploring King's egotism. Instead, he's held up as a hero, a blameless good guy, even as continues to put his needs ahead — indeed, in place — of those of his loved ones. Imagine if this movie were told from the wife's perspective, and it's this tragedy where she's in a loveless marriage with a guy who's a total d--k, and suddenly she falls in love with another guy and starts dreaming of another life for herself but ends up falling into coma. Exact same story, and King's the villain. In Payne's telling, I never really buy King's grief. It feels forced, inauthentic.
MTV's #8 Movie Of The Year Is '50/50'
Posted 12/15/11 7:30 am EST by Eric Ditzian in Commentary, Video
I kept fearing "50/50" would take a left turn onto Sappy Boulevard, plod past Preachy Junction and come to a rest in a town populated by "Dying Young," "Autumn in New York" and "Sweet November," where everyone learns pat lessons and becomes better people (except for those who die; those unfortunate folks just help us learn something about ourselves before they pass into the Great Cheesy Beyond).
"50/50" is a movie about cancer, after all, about a young man with the disease. At a certain point star Seth Rogen would have to cease being Seth Rogen, and the whole film would become some YA version of "Beaches," right?
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Based on writer Will Reiser's own experiences and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a young radio producer suffering from a rare form of cancer, "50/50" pulls off the magic trick of staying consistently funny, sweet, affecting and real — and never, ever cheesy. For all these reasons and more, "50/50" lands at #8 on MTV's list of the best movies of 2011.
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Tags 50/50, Best of 2011, joseph gordon-levitt, seth rogen