"The Descendents" Embodies the Ordinary and the Imperfect Faces of Everyday

By Jeffrey Preis

There are few movies that take place in Hawaii that don’t take advantage of the Eden at hand, playing up the idea of a paradise, problem free lifestyle. During a voice-over at the beginning of the film, Matt King (George Clooney) questions why his friends think that because he lives in Hawaii he’s “immune to life.”

TheDescendants does a beautiful job of showing the imperfections in every family; the tumultuous problems that occur in a lifetime happen to Matt King all at once as he tells his wife goodbye, parenting two children with problems of their own, finding out about his wife’s love affair, and selling off his extended family’s land that dates back to the earliest white settlers and Hawaiian royalty.

It is apparent that Matt has been distant from his wife and children. He’s a successful real-estate attorney who focuses more on his work and only realizes once his daughter, Alexandra (Shailene Woodley), tells him— and after his wife is in a coma—that his wife had an affair with a local real-estate broker (Matthew Lillard).

After hearing this news, Matt leaves his house and clumsily slips on his boat shoes and begins running, rather goofily, down the street. At first it’s unclear where he’s going, if anywhere, perhaps just running from the problems that keep amounting in his life. This scene, which I understand is not atypical of director Alexander Payne, holds some natural truth to it that we’ve all faced—the need to get out.

As the self-proclaimed “backup parent, the understudy,” Matt King must step up as the Father he never was to his 17 and 10 year old daughters when his wife goes into an irreversible coma. After finding out about his wife’s affair, he wants to confront the man to let him know of his wife’s imminent death. Matt’s also is faced with the challenge of selling his family’s 25,000 acre property on Kauai, constantly facing pressure from his comically pushy cousins.

Payne directs scenes—such as Matt fleeing from his house—flawlessly. He makes it almost too recognizable, something most people can relate with directly. The film is about a broken family and the path they take to heal while constantly having to take two steps. Payne focuses on the imperfections in life and maintains this until the final scene in the movie.

It would not be fair to mention the directing without the acting. Together, the movie works wonderfully and each actor did an awesome job of portraying the struggles their characters face. Clooney makes it easy to see the years of disconnect and the obvious fear of Matt examining himself. He maintains a calm but with obvious signs of struggling—something only a seasoned actor might know how to convey. Woodley plays Alexandra whose contemptuous behavior and obvious rejection for parenting are matched by many 17-year-old girls. Every role, no matter how small, fit in perfectly and adds to the intentional slower pace of the movie.

Together, Payne, Clooney, and Woodley score almost perfectly in this difficult theme of bereavement under unique circumstances. Payne focuses on the good and the bad within us, the love and hate, and the emotions that only surface under certain—usually tragic—conditions. The Descendents embodies the ordinary—Matt King—and the imperfect faces of everyday.  

"Safe House" Entertains Thanks to Good Acting

By Stuart Bryan

In cinema today, plot lines are recycled like old soda cans- especially in action thrillers. The Daniel Espinosa directed Safe House, is no different. Cue a CIA operative gone rogue, an idealistic young agent disappointed to find out his country’s hands aren’t as clean as he thought, and a trusted superior-turned-bad guy on the inside. Yawn. Luckily for Safe House, it has Denzel Washington. Washington, who just turned 57 but looks as if he is going on 30, adds entertainment to this been- there, done-that story. You get exactly what you pay for- to see Denzel Washington smirk and waltz around with his badass, confident stride and chew up the scenery.

Tobin Frost (Washington), a dangerous former CIA agent who has been off the grid for years suddenly turns up in Cape Town, South Africa. After your typical deal-gone wrong Frost ends up in the American Consulate, where upon announcing his name gets taken to a nearby safe house for debriefing (read: torturing). Enter Matt Weston, played by Ryan Reynolds, a “housekeeper” charged with babysitting said CIA safe house who has dreams of becoming a spy. Reynolds, in a departure from his usual awkward, funny man character does a surprisingly good job in his first action role.

After a bad guy bust up that leaves Frost in Weston’s charge, we begin the meat of the movie: Weston, in a frenzied state of panic, trying to keep up with calm, cool Frost. As Weston desperately tries to maintain watch over sneaky Frost, Frost uses the opportunity to be intentionally manipulative and gets inside Weston’s head making him question everything he thinks he knows about the CIA and his future. At one point, drawing chuckles from the audience, Frost says to Weston in his breezy manner, “This is fun, you and me figuring shit out, like the Hardy Boys.”

Unfortunately for the audience, they will have to wait through almost the entire 117-minute movie to be let in on what it is that caused Frost to evaporate from the CIA and go rogue. Because this is a formulaic movie, you can instinctively assume Tobin is ultimately “good” and that the CIA has done something evil, but why wait the entire movie to let us in on what had happened to him?

Safe House is a violent little talk, lots of action chase movie that is generally made better by good acting on the part of Washington and Reynolds. Sam Shepard and Vera Farmiga also put up wonderful performances as CIA bigwigs trying to track down Frost. Swedish director Daniel Espinosa does a commendable job with the action in his film debut for American audiences. The brutal hand-to- hand combat scenes are gritty and intense and the back-to-back car chases are thrilling and terrifying at the same time. The plot line is straightforward and lacks complexity, but in a nonstop action romp like Safe House, the dialogue is really just there to further the action, not the other way around.

Here is the fundamental problem in the story: the audience is supposed to believe that newbie Reynolds can outfox action god Denzel Washington. Washington’s visceral bad-guy acting chops are pure and unadulterated. Lets chalk this up to art imitating life: Weston seems to be in awe of Frost, who has clearly been around the block more than a few times, just as Reynolds should worship at the altar that is Denzel Washington. The idea that Ryan Reynolds could out-badass the original badass is simply laughable.

Safe House, is rated R (violence and some profanity) and is in theaters now.

“New Year's Eve” Isn't Just About the Sparkles

By Martha Terrell

I have to admit I'm a sucker for cheesy, feel-good movies and “New Year's Eve” is the perfect example. While there is no puzzle to be solved or exciting new world to explore there is a basic sense of human kindness to be rediscovered. 

 Following in the footsteps of “Valentine's Day”, “New Year's Eve” delivers a mega star studded cast, and several plot lines which intertwine with one another. At times it gives that already-been-done feeling because let's face it, it has. But in the end who doesn't love New Year's with all of it's glitter, sparkles and romance? “New Year's Eve” definitely has plenty of that. From the huge ball drop in Times Square headed up by Hilary Swank, who plays the vice president of the Times Square Alliance, to a masquerade party thrown by a top record label and catered by Katherine Heigl; a broken hearted, career driven woman whose troubles stem from an incident in which her boyfriend, Jon Bon Jovi, propsed and then left her to go on tour. When Bon Jovi is booked to play at the same party Heigl is catering, the movie takes on a true rom-com feel. 

 The A-list cast goes on to include Ashton Kutcher, an anti-New Year's Eve comic strip artist, Lea Michele, an aspiring singer, Sarah Jessica Parker who plays mother to Abigail Breslin, and many other big names including Robert De Niro, who is clinging to life while laying in a hospital bed. De Niro's performance in the film leaves you with a hope that even the toughest of souls can be changed, and in the end it is all about family and those you love. 

 Perhaps the most interesting pairing and greatest lesson to be learned comes from Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer. Efron leads the timid Pfeiffer on an adventure around New York to cross resolutions of her bucket list and ends up learning that a little kindness can go a long way. Meanwhile Hilary Swank gives a cheesy but touching speech that reminds us all to stop and appreaciate one another, as she struggles to pull off the perfect ball drop in Times Square.

 Although “New Year's Eve” does not deliver any gut-busting comedic lines it does have it's moments. Jessica Biel and Seth Meyers give the best comedic performance out of the bunch while racing to deliver their baby so it can become the first baby of the new year. 

 The biggest drawback to the film is the multitude of storylines. “Valentine's Day” pushed the limits when it comes to storylines and “New Year's Eve” goes a bit too far. It is difficult at the beginning to remember each plot and the many characters in the film. If you can make it halfway through all of the characters will have been introduced and it becomes easier to tie it all together. In the end any confusion is cleared up.

 “New Year's Eve” does become slightly predictable, or so it seems, but Gary Marshall adds a few twists and unexpected resolutions that ultimately surprise the audience. In the end everyone finds some kind of love and they all ring in New Year's Eve with someone special. It may be exactly what you expected, but isn't that nice sometimes? A movie that simply reminds us of the important things we sometimes forget. Let's face it. There is nothing wrong with a little sparkle and an old familiar story. 

The Somewhat Predictable Miracle

By Jonathan Shealy

The film Big Miracle, while at points predictable and formulaic, effectively tells the
heartwarming tale of three huge mammals stuck in the ice, and how their plight affected the lives of many people, at vastly different levels of society. The whales provide the reason for the story, but in the film simply stand as a backdrop in front of which all of the characters working to save them take the show.


The movie is based on a true event that happened in 1988, and focuses on the efforts to rescue three whales trapped in the arctic by rapidly expanding ice floes. I don't want to give the plot away, but since the movie isn't titled Big Disappointment, you can probably guess how it ends.


The film stars John Krasinski as a journalist who discovers the trapped whales just outside of
Barrow, Alaska, and Drew Barrymore, an environmentalist working for Greenpeace, trying to save the whales. Barrymore is Krasinski's ex, but their romance is but a small subplot that is alluded to but hardly visited. There are a lot of characters introduced who play different parts in the rescue mission, and none of them achieve enough screen time to put in any truly memorable performances. They are, as a whole, effective in their roles, and though no one steals the show, they do well overall.


There are a lot of subplots intertwining throughout the film, but the director does a good job of
pacing it so all of them make sense and they are easy to remember when revisited. This movie won't be remembered for a groundbreaking story or deep themes, but as a feel good family movie about whales, it does a great job in its role. By the end, the most unlikely combination of people have come together to try to rescue the whales, including an executive of an oil company, environmentalists, journalists, and even the Soviet Union. The plot would seem contrived, but since this is based on a true story, the writers can get away with it.


The movie offers few surprises, and for the most part you know how the story will eventually
end, but the fun part is seeing it get there, even if that makes the ending anticlimactic. Most everyone ends up happily ever after, and as a family movie, I guess that's a good thing. The history in the movie helps appeal to the older audience, while the giant CGI whales are sure to bring awe from younger viewers. The visual effects weren't groundbreaking, but did their job of creating a believable environment, and nothing looked too fake.


Everything did seem very glossed over, however, actors in negative degree temperatures rarely looked cold, and everyone's hair and makeup always looked untouched, even on the frozen tundra. I expect most of the intended audience isn't looking for a gritty realistic depiction of arctic survival, but a little more realism would have been nice.


Overall, this is a very good family movie, and while I don't expect it to be very memorable when
compared with every movie of 2012, I think it did a very good job in its role as a feel good heart warmer that's safe for kids. I didn't go in expecting Oscar winning performances or groundbreaking effects, and I was satisfied when I left the theater. If you have children or are a fan of animal movies I would definitely recommend it, if not, I'm guessing you probably wouldn't consider going to see it anyway. I give this film a solid B, nothing too fancy, but it gets the job done.

Memories of a Lifetime in "The Vow"

By Natalie Wirtz

If your memory was erased and you had the chance to re-choose the path and direction of your life, would you choose the same? That is the main premise of “The Vow,” now in theaters.

“The Vow,” a movie inspired by the true life story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter, was the highest grossing movie this weekend earning $42 million in only three days. The marketing of this movie was essential to the Valentine’s Day crowd and romantic movie lovers. However, being a romantic movie lover myself, “The Vow” had me hooked until the end when it left me feeling unsatisfied and disappointed. I wanted to witness another great love story like Allie and Noah in Nicholas Sparks’ “The Notebook,” but I have come to the realization that since the film is based on a real-life story, real life does not always have a swoon-worthy Hollywood ending. Just like in the 2006 film “The Break Up” where Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughn’s characters actually break up.

Following a book released in 2000 entitled “The Vow”, the movie tells the story of a young couple, Leo (Channing Tatum) and Paige (Rachel McAdams) and the vows that they once made to each other, remembered or forgotten.

Set in Chicago, the movie tells the story Leo and Paige, as they fall in love and get married. Shortly following their vows, leaving a theatre, they are involved in a devastating car crash that leaves Paige with short-term memory loss. She does not remember getting married, or ever meeting her husband. Not much is known about their past before they met and the audience discovers how defining decisions and choices influence the people they come to be.

Even though the story primarily focuses on the theme of a vow and what it represents to Leo, other themes emerge. “The Vow” is also a story of choice and if given a chance, would you make the same decision twice. It is an emotional story that gets people to wonder if they were in the same situation would they honor their vows? McAdams and Tatum played their roles of Paige and Leo exceptionally well. McAdams’ well played emotional roller coaster of an amnesia patient trying to put her life back together opposite the sultry stare and love portrayed by Tatum made me hope for a happy ending. The two romance movie alums carried the movie forward when the scrip often fell flat.

Tatum and McAdams are both notable romance movie alums, staring in roles written by Nicholas Sparks (Tatum in “Dear John” and McAdams in “The Notebook”). These are both movies I enjoy and I believe based on McAdams and Tatum’s previous roles I set the bar too high for this film. I was waiting for the moment that made me catch my breath or break down in sobs, but it never came. The one hour and forty-five minute movie could have benefited with an extra ten minuets to help tie up the loose ends and give the audience a better sense of closure. If they are meant to live happily ever after, let the audience see and experience it too. I believe if I saw this movie with no prior bias of expecting a Nicholas Sparks-like film, my reaction would have been different. Even though the end left me dissatisfied, I feel inspired by the story of Kim and Krickitt Carpenter and I like the message that they have chosen to share with the world. That is, life is made of: the defining decisions, choices and vows we make.