The Descendants (2011)

Awards

Academy Awards: Oscar won & 508 nominated
Won 24 awards & 87 nominations
See awards details »

Users' rating: 7.4

117 votes

Ranking

This week:
-

This month:
-

All time:
-

Vote

Add your vote!

Overall:

Favourite

Watchlist

Not interested

About the movie

Year

2011

Runtime

1 h 55 min

Genres

Comedy, Drama

Country

United States

Director

Alexander Payne

Writers

Kaui Hart Hemmings, Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon

Plotline

A land baron tries to re-connect with his two daughters after his wife suffers a boating accident.

Recently added photos Add more photos

Show all photos

Every third American is obese. Check if you are too!

Starring

George Clooney

Shailene Woodley

Amara Miller

Nick Krause

Patricia Hastie

Main cast

George Clooney Matt King

Shailene Woodley Alexandra King

Amara Miller Scottie King

Nick Krause Sid

Patricia Hastie Elizabeth King

Grace A. Cruz Scottie's Teacher

Kim Gennaula School Counselor

Karen Kuioka Hironaga Barb Higgins

Carmen Kaichi Lani Higgins

Kaui Hart Hemmings Matt's Secretary Noe

Beau Bridges Cousin Hugh

Matt Corboy Cousin Ralph

Matt Esecson Cousin Hal

Michael Ontkean Cousin Milo

Stanton Johnston Cousin Stan

Jon McManus Cousin Six

Recently added videos Add more videos

Show all videos

External critics' reviews

The Descendants would still be a splendid movie without him; with Clooney, it's one of 2011's very best. more

It is particularly rewarding to see Clooney outside his comfort zone of self-composed cool in The Descendants, Alexander Payne's beautifully gentle, funny and moving film. more

A pitch-perfect movie that threads a microscopically tiny needle between high comedy and devastating drama. more

Rarely has a contemporary movie taken in so much life and revealed it with such depth of feeling. more

Clooney has never been better, subtler, more deeply rooted in a performance than he is in The Descendants. And he's funny, too. more

What happens is that we get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies. more

Another beautifully chiseled piece of filmmaking - sharp, funny, generous, and moving. more

Clooney and Payne are coconspirators, too. They know that the story they are telling is too emotionally complicated to muck up with a lot of preening and artifice. They head right into the sad and crazymaking humor of the situation. This is a modest marvel of a movie. more

It's one of the year's most pleasurable American movies. more

Expertly mixing tears and laughs with the sort of alchemy not seen since "Terms of Endearment," this superbly written, directed, acted, and yes, Oscar-friendly movie perfectly captures the blackly comic insanity that can overtake a family forced to confront an impending death. more

Show more external critic's reviews

Liked or not? Share your opinion below.