The Descendants - 繼承人生

The Descendants (繼承人生) is an 2011 film. The movie stars George Clooney. The supporting cast include Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Judy Greer, and Matthew Lillard. The entire movie takes place in Hawaii.

Clooney plays Matt King, a lawyer, largely absent father of two, descendant with massive land holdings, and the husband of a comatose wife. After the doctors inform him that his wife will not wake up, her living trust states for her to be let go naturally, George brings back his older daughter. The older daughter was sent off to boarding school for having a massive fight with her mom. The daughter proceeds to tell Matt that his comatose wife was unfaithful to him and that she witnessed it. The two than make plans to stalk the man and let him know of the wife's condition so he can have a chance to say good-bye. Intertwined with all this is his family's holding of a large piece of land.

This movie was awesome. The subject matter is extreme, but the life that these people go through seems genuine and it took me in. I was captivated by their quest to say goodbye to the mom and coming together as a family in the midst of tragedy. Clooney really brought me in and made me feel for him. I was cheering for him to come out in a better place. A must watch film of 2011.

The Men Who Stare at Goats - 超異能部隊

The Men Who Stare at Goats (超異能部隊) is an 2009 film. The film stars George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Ewan McGregor, and Kevin Spacey.

Ewan McGregor is a journalist that follows George Clooney around trying to write a story about the US Army's program for psychic powers. Clooney goes to IRAQ because he felt a vision tell him to go there. When they get to IRAQ, they try to camp out. They than get captured by criminals that want to sell them to terrorist. During the exchange, they manage to escape with another captive who takes them to his house. From there, they find their way to a underground psychic company doing experiments.

The movie was a trip. I didn't know what to expect from one scene to the next. Because of this, I wasn't all that engaged and fell asleep a few times. The story was unique but not all that interesting.

The American - 完美狙擊

The American (完美狙擊) is a 2010 film. The movie stars George Clooney and Violante Placido. The movie is based on a 1990 novel by Martin Booth called A Very Private Gentleman.

The movie starts in a very snowy Sweden in a log cabin with a scantly clad Ingrid and our main man Jack. On a walk around the area, Jack notices foot prints in the snow. Jack quickly looks for shelter and is shot at. Jack than kills the sniper, Ingrid, and another man on a nearby road. Jack heads to Rome now to meet up with his handler, Pavel. Pavel gives Jack an hide out place in another part of Italy and than another assignment. From that point on, you're brought into the life that Jack leads as an assassin for hire. Jack finds an love interest with a brothel worker, Clara. In the end, Jack wants out, but has an heavy price to pay for it.

The movie was quite a slow mover. Lots of Clooney looking here and there. The only real spark was when Clara was around and when there was muted action. Besides that, I was quite bored and trying to figure out the visual aspects of a beautifully present Italian lifestyle. A well made film, but a little boring too.

Up In The Air - 型男飛行日誌

Up In The Air (型男飛行日誌) is a 2009 film. The film stars George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, and Anna Kendrick.

The movie is about George Clooney's character of Ryan Bingham. Ryan is a professional "layoff" specialist and spends around 322 days a year on the road. Travel to various companies that rather have strangers do the laying off. Along the way, Ryan meets Vera Farmiga as Alex Goran in a hotel. They strike up a causal traveling relationship. However, at Ryan's headquarters, a new idea of firing people over a T1 is introduced. Which means that Ryan is grounded. Ryan convinces he boss to spend the person behind the idea come with him. That person is Anna Kendrick as Natalie Keener.

Along the way, there is a security scene where George stereotypes Asians as efficient and the type of people that you should line up behind. This scene also shows up in the trailer.

In all, it was a good film that reminded me of my traveling days a few years ago. The funny was funny, eye opening and depressing all at the same time.