George Clooney protects Hawaiian soil

In the Descendants, father of two and husband to a horrible woman, Clooney plays Matt King a wealthy investor guy. Him and a bunch of other relatives have only one real asset remaining; a large piece of pristine land passed down to them from their distant Hawaiian ancestors.
(for the pedantic among you, I acknowledge that no land in Hawaii is pristine and it's all covered in invasive species).


At the beginning they all decide that it is time they let go of this land as some very rich people are willing to buy it from them and make them all even wealthier.

In the meantime King's wife is in a near fatal speed boat accident that leaves her in a coma. He is faced with the prospect of being a sole guardian of a troubled alcoholic teenager and a young child in need of a mother, as he is told she will not recover.

Since I watched some of Batman and Robin (I switched it off in disgust before my brain could destroy itself), I struggled with the idea of Clooney as an actor in good films, but you can't help but sympathise with him in this story. He does a good job portraying the stoic dad trying to soak up all the responsibilities dealing with friends and family. Then finding out his wife was having an affair.

If you have watched this movie you would be forgiven for not reading in any environmental themes at all, the focus is on personal relationships and the drama caused by the sudden death of a family member.

However the aesthetic of the film made for an interesting portrayal of what is normally assumed to be a tropical paradise. There is a constant haze about the camera work giving the sense that it's polluted and it doesn't shy away from the fact that much of Hawaii is covered in concrete and high rise buildings.

The description I've provided so far might leave you wondering what the appeal of this film is, but it's actually funny, with more genuine feel-goodyness than Disney's schmaltz.

(I should mention that the number of short haul flights taken by characters in this movie is not to be condoned.)

His teenage daughter becomes sage like in her advice and ends up his unlikely side-kick on the road to recovery, e.g. helping him track down his wife's lover and scare the shit out of him.

After his personal demons are put to rest, King makes an impromptu detour to see the land that his family is selling.

They come upon an amazing vista similar to the first image in this post. He reminiscences about camping trips taken there and all that kinda nostalgic stuff. Despite the deal to sell this land being more-or-less complete King opts to pull out of the sale. His relatives are furious as the sale would make them super rich. They tell King this type of development is inevitable in the end.

King remembers that none of them have done anything to earn this land, it was just passed down to them, but while he got used to the idea of palming it off for lots of money, the sight of it instilled a sense of responsibility.

Feeling connected with a habitat or environment means it's like a part of your house. The habitats where I grew up create those strong nostalgic feelings King gets in this movie, and while I've recently gone on about the practical value of conservation, this emotional response might be what it takes to get people to defend a place from destruction.

Apparently George Osbourne grew up in a wasteland of franchise shops and high-speed railways.