84
Metascore
43 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100Boxoffice MagazinePete HammondBoxoffice MagazinePete HammondThe Descendants is that rare bird, moving, enlightening, funny and unapologetically human. It's one of the year's best pictures, one to savor and think about.
- 100The Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyThe Hollywood ReporterTodd McCarthyAfter a five-year wait since "Sideways," Alexander Payne has made his best film yet with The Descendants. Ostensibly a study of loss and coping with a tragic situation, this wonderfully nuanced look at a father and two daughters dealing with the imminent death of his wife and their mother turns the miraculous trick of possibly being even funnier than it is moving.
- 100The Globe and Mail (Toronto)The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Heartwarming, tragic and, at times, hilariously funny drama.
- 88Slant MagazineSlant MagazineIn a development that seemed to begin in earnest with "Sideways," a large part of The Descendents seems to operate on a non-narrative level.
- 80SalonAndrew O'HehirSalonAndrew O'HehirThe Descendants is gentle, witty, audience-friendly entertainment for grown-ups, with a great performance by one of our biggest screen stars.
- 80New York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinNew York Magazine (Vulture)David EdelsteinPayne is too acerbic - maybe too much of an asshole - to settle for easy humanism. But he's too smart a dramatist to settle for easy derision. Mockery and empathy seesaw, the balance precarious - and thrillingly so. It's the noblest kind of satire: cruel and yet, in the end, lacking the killing blow.
- 80The New YorkerAnthony LaneThe New YorkerAnthony LaneIn short, The Descendants is the latest exhibit in Payne's careful dissection of the beached male, which runs from Matthew Broderick's character in "Election" to Jack Nicholson's in "About Schmidt" and Paul Giamatti's in "Sideways."
- 50TimeRichard CorlissTimeRichard CorlissI'm a notorious softie, and I found things to like about the film, most particularly Clooney's performance; but I remained untouched.