The first thing that I found I had in common with Tita Maggie, is George Clooney.  I remember that day well.  We were in the kitchen and I was telling her why Grey’s Anatomy is a must see for her.  She then started crooning about ER and I said one person made that show great.  We simultaneously cooed, “George Clooney.”

That’s exactly what happened last Friday night.  After discovering I have completely lost my voice to fatigue, I made myself comfortable and started playing The Descendants.  Mr. Clooney played his part so well that my heart repeatedly broke.  And Hawaii never looked better.

The movie starts with a narration of Honolulu-based lawyer Matt King (Clooney).  He is the sole trustee of a prized piece of land on the island of Kaua’i.  His wife was in a motorboat accident that rendered her comatose.  Now, this “back up” parent has to learn to manage all the balls in the air:  his two daughters who are growing increasingly more difficult to deal with, his family who urges him to sell the Kaua’i property, and the citizens watching his every move.

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I don’t know how to start telling the story of this beautiful film.  All I know is I have never loved George Clooney better than this.

The director was smart because he showed the families of Hawaii.  Lately, all you can see of that place are the beaches and the sand.  For the first time, it’s not all about surfing and tanning (or maybe I haven’t seen a lot of Hawaii based films lately) and it showed a family and a tortured man.

Clooney is controlled and composed and the perfect Matt King.  The struggles the story has put him through is not an easy feat for any man.  I dare say it is close to drive a man to insanity.  But he didn’t even come close to being not in control.  He was a man of all sorts.  And it made the film stellar.

This is my favorite scene in the entire movie:

Goodbye, my love, my friend, my pain, my joy.

Amazing film.  You must see this.  You must be moved by this.  You must be changed by this.