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["Toronto Film Festival diaries" is a series of daily updates on screenings at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. For fast reactions and more follow Metromix's Geoff Berkshire on Twitter.]
It's been seven years since Alexander Payne last directed a movie—the critically acclaimed Oscar winner "Sideways"—but his latest, "The Descendants" (opening Nov. 18), proves worth the wait. Based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, the story follows Matt King (George Clooney), a Hawaiian father of two forced to step up to his role as a parent after a boating accident leaves his wife in a coma.
Much of the film deals with Matt connecting with his troubled teenage daughter Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and precocious younger daughter Scottie (Amara Miller). Their bond is only strengthened when Matt learns some surprising details about his wife. It's low-key dramedy in the hands of Payne, with a persistent and deep emotional undercurrent that draws you in and keeps you hooked.
The cast includes a wide mix of character actors, non-professionals and slightly more recognizable names (Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Beau Bridges are all excellent in small but important roles). Young actor Nick Krause has a scene-stealing role in the mode of Chris Klein's "Election" character as Alexandra's seemingly spacey surfer friend. But the movie belongs to Clooney and Woodley, who each deserve Oscar nominations for their work.
Woodley, previously best known for the cheesy hit ABC Family soap "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," emerges as a true revelation. Alexandra is introduced as a bit of a screw-up, but we discover she has already grown into a self-assertive and extremely capable young woman without Matt even noticing. She makes a great match for Clooney's befuddled father figure, a man who cares for his family but doesn't always know how to show it.
Even in a career full of standout star turns ("Out of Sight," "Michael Clayton," "Up in the Air"), "The Descendants" represents something special for Clooney. Looking a little older and world-wearier than he ever has before on screen, Clooney hits an amazing range of emotions while also showcasing his natural ability with physical comedy and his skills as a great re-actor. He can communicate so much in a single look.
"The Descendants" continues Payne's recent trend toward reigning in the biting wit of earlier work like "Election" and "About Schmidt," for the still-funny but more contemplative vibe of "Sideways" and his brilliant "Paris je t'aime" short ("14th arrondissement" starring Margo Martindale). He also gets considerable mileage from unusual use of the Hawaiian locations. The state's natural beauty is an important aspect of the plot, but this isn't the traditional vision of Hawaii as an exclusively tropical paradise from films like "Forgetting Sarah Marshall." Instead, Payne offers a slice of life that happens to unfold in Hawaii and is all the more cinematically rich for it.
The truly "inside baseball" story "Moneyball" (opening Sept. 23) hits theaters next weekend, so a review will post soon. But, briefly, it's a very strong unconventional sports movie more focused on the business of baseball than the thrill of the game. Until that is, director Bennett Miller ("Capote") and ace screenwriters Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian can't resist bringing this brainy and witty adaptation of Michael Lewis' "Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game" right back to the thrill of the game.
Brad Pitt shines as Oakland As general manager Billy Beane, who together with assistant general manager Peter Brand (Jonah Hill, in his strongest screen performance to date) attempt to build a winning team at bargain basement prices by recruiting undervalued players. Chris Pratt delivers a superb small performance as one of those players, Scott Hatteberg, while Miller's "Capote" leading man Philip Seymour Hoffman takes on the role of manager Art Howe, who adamantly disagrees with Beane's approach. Pitt, who also produced, labored to ensure the movie would hit screens after Steven Soderbergh was forced out of the director's chair. His dedication pays off.
Werner Herzog's latest documentary "Into the Abyss" examines the death penalty through a single 28-year-old inmate on death row in Texas. Michael Perry was convicted of a triple homicide and Herzog sits down to interview him eight days before his death sentence is scheduled to be carried out.
The film is upfront in its opposition to the death penalty on moral grounds, but Herzog is never strident or manipulative. If anything he goes out of his way to foreground the victims' families, and their stories of loss and pain are far more affecting than anything said by or on behalf of Perry and his accomplice Jason Burkett (who is serving a life sentence). With its reasonably balanced approach, "Into the Abyss" admirably forces contemplation about the humanity of the death penalty, while offering at least some understanding of why capital punishment exists.
Unfortunately, Herzog's own contemplative interview style feels out of place here. Although he doesn't insert quite as much philosophical voiceover as he has in other films (including recent arthouse hit "Cave of Forgotten Dreams"), he can't help but shape questions in a way that conveniently lead his subjects into pseudo-profundities. There's also a queasiness to the way Herzog's interest in human eccentricity invites (perhaps unintentionally) laughter at undeserving targets.
Second-time writer-director Bryan Wizemann's "Think of Me" spotlights a deeply compassionate turn by Lauren Ambrose as a single mom in Las Vegas struggling to get by and provide for her young daughter (Audrey P. Scott, simultaneously adorable and natural). An intriguing slice of life look at the widening gap between America's haves and have nots, the small scale film ultimately gets carried away by its emotionally charged narrative.
As a subplot involving Ambrose's overly friendly coworker (Dylan Baker) starts to consume the film, Wizemann writes himself into a corner and takes a hard turn from careful observation to mounting melodrama. It's a relief to find an indie drama about a woman struggling with poverty that doesn't resort to rape or foreground drug use. Still, the frustrating climax leaves no room for a satisfying outcome, and the ending Wizemann settles on falls especially flat. "Think of Me" is worth seeking out for Ambrose—though the film seems like a long shot for anything more than token theatrical play.
Read the report from day six of the 2011 Toronto Film Festival.
Check out the full collection of 2011 Toronto Film Festival diaries.
