The Oscar nominations were announced yesterday boasting two films for Best Picture that I had not heard of: The Artist and The Descendants. I promptly watched the trailers for both and they each intrigued me. As only one of the two films was currently showing in my local theater, I decided to take the wife out on a “school night” to see The Descendants.

Lawyer and Land-baron Matt King (George Clooney) is forced to become a more integral part of the lives of his two young daughters, 17 year old Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and 10 year old Scottie (Amara Miller), when his wife ends up on life support after a boating accident off the coast of Hawaii. As his wife’s condition deteriorates the secret of her infidelity comes to light which sparks a highly unusual family bonding experience.

The Descendants examines love, loss, marriage and parenting (with a side of land conservation) in a muted, subtle fashion and in so doing provides a vehicle in which its stars shine bright.

The Descendants is set in a variety of locations in the Hawaiian Islands and the scenery is gorgeous. The big screen acts as a tapestry upon which cinematographer Phedon Papamichael paints his lush landscapes. It would be easy, and incorrect, to make the assumption that merely pointing the camera at Hawaii would result in beautiful scenery. There is so much more to that going on here. The quality of the light and focus is fitted so perfectly to the mood of each scene. In a film that avoids the overuse of score to elicit an emotional response, these subtle visual cues enhance the emotion onscreen.

The acting is superb. I have missed more George Clooney films than I have seen, but there are certain roles in which his style draws me in. Typically these are the more unconventional roles, like those in Welcome to Colinwood or Oh Brother, Where Art Thou? I saw something in the trailer for The Descendants that lead me to to believe that even though this movie is not in the same vein as those comedies, that Clooney would be providing a similarly memorable performance. And I was indeed correct. For much of the film Clooney appears stunned. I am not sure I have ever seen shock, the kind you go into after an accident or a life-changing moment, portrayed on the big screen but Clooney registers it perfectly. Where The Descendants varies from standard family dramedy is that it tries to paint a more realistic picture of the comic tragedy of real life. And although it cannot help but painting “reality” with an artistic brush, it perhaps comes closest when Clooney looks and acts as if he has just had the wind knocked out of him.

Additionally the two girls portraying Matt King’s daughters were brilliant. If you have ever spent significant time with a 10 year old girl then you know their moods and behaviors like the back of your hand. Amara Miller nails it. Despite the very tragic drama going on in the character’s life, she never overplays the emotion and the matter-of-fact, sometimes terribly concrete manner in which children approach life is on display in her performance. And now twenty year old Shailene Woodley, who plays down to 17, not only looks age appropriate but also acts that way as well. Initially she appears that she will be the annoying teenage bad girl but her performance soon blossoms into something genuine and quite palpable. She was at times the most believable person onscreen. I would not have been at all disappointed to have seen her name up there in the Best Supporting Actress category.

So the cinematography (and editing) are wonderful and the performances are top notch–but does the film deserve to be considered one of the Best Pictures of 2011? I think that largely depends upon your point of view, and fifteen hours removed from the viewing I have yet to decide how I will feel if the show happens to take home that award.

The Descendants falls into that category of film for me personally that I have seen once and would never need to see again. Other than choosing to experience it with someone who hasn’t seen it, I cannot imagine ever doing so. If the film had been done in a more standard Hollywood style (say, by Disney for example) it would most likely have been a heart-string-tugging film finely tuned to wrench various emotions out of you at predetermined moments. I don’t mind that type of film. But they are admittedly formulaic. The Descendants doesn’t hesitate to wring out your emotions either, but it does so in such a way that your emotions at any one point in the film may be different than the person sitting next to you. I am certainly doing a poor job of explaining it, but suffice it to say that the film is at times very subtle and at times quite raw. As I watched the movie last night I was struck with this idea that The Descendants is a film of “moments”. There are moments of absolute brilliance in the film and there are also moments that are akin to musical dissonance. And that kind of storytelling works for this kind of film. I never once felt that The Descendants was trying to sugar coat the tragedy of a life of mistakes nor do I feel it tied everything up in a “happily ever after” bow. It was real, but it was also art. And I believe it is the artistic touch, coupled with the kind of performances every director must dream of, which gave The Descendants, and director Alexander Payne, the Oscar nominations.

If you are a fan of good performances and beautiful settings and understand going in that this isn’t necessarily going to be your typical polished Hollywood offering, I suspect you will find much to like. I have actually grown to appreciate the film more after a little distance, and the end scene was worth the price of admission to me. On the typical 4 star film rating system I’d give it a solid 3 to 3.25.

Of the remaining Best Picture contenders I’ve seen Hugo and War Horse and I hope to see even more before the Academy Award Winners are announced.