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Alynda Wheat, People: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Funny, emotional and unfailingly human... shows Clooney in full command... The revelation, though, is Shailene Woodley. She never sets a foot wrong..." (Read the full review...) 135 words, 11/17/11 Richard Corliss, Time: GOOD (NOT GREAT) "I wanted the film's elevated sentiments to wash over me, inundate me in its lapping warmth... I found things to like about the film, most particularly Clooney's performance; but I remained untouched." (Read the full review...) 1,119 words, 09/13/11 Christy Lemire, Associated Press: VERY GOOD (cg) "Clooney makes every stage of his character's arc believable... a performance that's so understated as to appear effortless." (Read the full review...) 709 words, 11/17/11 Mara Reinstein, Us Weekly: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...eloquently moving... every actor -- from the very impressive Shailene Woodley to Judy Greer (as a betrayed spouse) -- has a moment to shine.... extraordinary." (Read the full review...) 182 words, 11/17/11 Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...a beautifully chiseled piece of filmmaking -- sharp, funny, generous, and moving.... made with the deceptively simple flow of an improvised adventure." (Read the full review...) 763 words, 11/18/11 Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Clooney delivers the finest, truest and most emotionally raw performance of his career.... 'The Descendants' is damn near perfect." (Read the full review...) 651 words, 11/11/11 Claudia Puig, USA Today: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...beautifully textured... Payne reaches new heights in emotional agility, weaving a multilayered story with perfectly calibrated doses of comedy and tragedy." (Read the full review...) 460 words, 11/16/11 Roger Ebert, RogerEbert.com: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...we get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies. We come to understand how they think and care about what they decide." (Read the full review...) 884 words, 11/18/11 Glenn Kenny, MSN Movies: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...assured at every turn and so humane and engaged and absorbing... one just wants to settle in with, so seemingly effortlessly does it carry one along." (Read the full review...) 819 words, 11/14/11 James Berardinelli, Reel Views: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...delivers what too few recent movies achieve: intellectual stimulation coupled with emotional satisfaction.... one of 2011's best..." (Read the full review...) 1,080 words, 11/16/11
A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...surprising, moving and frequently very funny.... a film that understands, in every way, how hard it can be to say goodbye." (Read the full review...) 1,132 words, 11/16/11 Joe Neumaier, New York Daily News: EXCELLENT (cg) "...terrific... Clooney's famous charisma adds something unexpected." (Read the full review...) 429 words, 11/16/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...conversational in its pathos, wry in its wisdom, very much an extension of the smart, sardonic sensibility Payne brought to 'Sideways,' and 'About Schmidt.' " (Read the full review...) 957 words, 11/16/11 Lou Lumenick, New York Post: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...you feel like you've come to know the characters' entire lives in the span of two hours.... a razor-sharp, pitch-perfect script..." (Read the full review...) 669 words, 11/16/11 Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...even-toned but completely inhabited. The tones are complicated but smoothly mixed. The actors have room to make the people their own." (Read the full review...) 823 words, 11/18/11 Rafer Guzman, New York Newsday: GOOD (NOT GREAT) (cg) "...a passably good film from a director who could have given us so much more." (Read the full review...) 360 words, 11/23/11 David Edelstein, New York Magazine: EXCELLENT "Mockery and empathy seesaw, the balance precarious -- and thrillingly so. It's the noblest kind of satire: cruel and yet, in the end, lacking the killing blow." (Read the full review...) 778 words, 11/14/11 Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...we get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies. We come to understand how they think and care about what they decide." (Read the full review...) 884 words, 11/18/11 J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...insistently sincere and positively sudsy.... it left me cold. The pathos is as unearned as the protagonist's privilege." (Read the full review...) 650 words, 11/16/11 Peter Howell, Toronto Star: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...could leave you feeling woozy with unexpected contentment... This is stealth comedy, richly delivered..." (Read the full review...) 790 words, 11/18/11 Gayle MacDonald, Toronto Globe & Mail: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Clooney and the elder daughter (Shailene Woodley) give Oscar-worthy performances... this hard-knocks film will have you laughing one moment and sobbing the next." (Read the full review...) 166 words, 09/12/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT (cg) "...it's Judy Greer who ends up stealing the picture with just three stunning scenes as a sympathetic spectator to the family drama." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 11/17/11
Ann Hornaday, Washington Post: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...a pitch-perfect movie that threads a microscopically tiny needle between high comedy and devastating drama.... tough, tender, observant, exquisitely nuanced..." (Read the full review...) 745 words, 11/18/11 Steven Rea, Philadelphia Inquirer: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...transcendent.... Clooney has never been better, subtler, more deeply rooted in a performance... And he's funny, too..." (Read the full review...) 747 words, 11/18/11 Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a lovely, heartfelt character study of common, everyday people trapped on the horns of an uncommon but not unheard-of dilemma." (Read the full review...) 705 words, 11/23/11 Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star-Tribune: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Every twist in this sensitive, emotionally satisfying movie is as slippery and urgent as a goldfish tipped out of its tank. It's life being sad, beautiful and dumb all in the same breath." (Read the full review...) 512 words, 11/18/11 Bill Goodykoontz, Arizona Republic: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...it is particularly rewarding to see Clooney outside his comfort zone of self-composed cool... Here he is tremendous." (Read the full review...) 609 words, 11/23/11 Ty Burr, Boston Globe: OUTSTANDING (cg) "I can't think of another movie this year that made me laugh or weep harder for the whole lumpy business of being.... the film is an enormous pleasure..." (Read the full review...) 1,009 words, 11/18/11 Stephen Whitty, New Jersey Star-Ledger: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...funny, observant and full of stealthy sentiment that creeps up on you.... terrific." (Read the full review...) 623 words, 11/16/11 Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle: VERY GOOD (cg) "...a movie that shows who Clooney is, what he can do, and what he means onscreen.... the movie's story is not nearly as good as its setup... [but] it's better than good." (Read the full review...) 660 words, 11/18/11 Moira Macdonald, Seattle Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...wonderful... This is Payne's specialty -- darkly comic movies about flawed middle-aged men coping with crisis and taking stock... arguably his warmest film to date." (Read the full review...) 507 words, 11/23/11 Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...carries beauty, humor and pain in an unsteady, exquisite balance. It sneaks up on you emotionally, seemingly too wry and cool at first then accruing real depths and resonances..." (Read the full review...) 543 words, 11/23/11 Joe Williams, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: OUTSTANDING (cg) "With 'Sideways' seven years ago, director Alexander Payne prompted a few comparisons to golden-age greats like Billy Wilder, but with 'The Descendants' he proves himself a worthy heir." (Read the full review...) 347 words, 11/23/11 Steve Persall, St. Petersburg Times: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...the most completely satisfying movie Alexander Payne has created. As usual, the writing inspires note-perfect performances, especially George Clooney's..." (Read the full review...) 553 words, 11/24/11 Tom Long, Detroit News: OUTSTANDING (cg) "In tandem Payne and Clooney deliver one of the year's best films, a bubbly meditation on family and responsibility that weighs just enough to matter." (Read the full review...) 383 words, 11/23/11 Rene Rodriguez, Miami Herald: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...the more you think about it, the more eloquent the finale becomes. Life goes on no matter what; it's how we respond to the sudden curves and drops that really counts." (Read the full review...) 647 words, 11/23/11
J. Hoberman, Village Voice/LA Weekly: FAIR "...insistently sincere and positively sudsy.... it left me cold. The pathos is as unearned as the protagonist's privilege." (Read the full review...) 650 words, 11/16/11 Katey Rich, Cinema Blend: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...the closest I've seen to a perfect movie in a long, long time.... a film that's as moving as it is witty and dark. It's simply terrific." (Read the full review...) 377 words, 09/09/11 Peter Keough, Boston Phoenix: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...one of the most satisfying ensemble casts of the year.... captures yet again with honesty and compassion the human truths we are all heir to..." (Read the full review...) 658 words, 11/17/11 Noel Murray, AV Club: GOOD (cg) "I never thought I'd see the day when I'd be more impressed with the visuals in an Alexander Payne film than in the writing or acting, but that's exactly where I am..." (Read the full review...) 421 words, 09/11/11 Stephanie Zacharek, Movieline: MODERATE (cg) "...an ultra-polished picture in which every emotion we're supposed to feel has been cued up well in advance. There's nothing surprising or affecting about it." (Read the full review...) 1,164 words, 11/16/11 Jaime N. Christley, Slant: OUTSTANDING (cg) "As it gained momentum, what I began to see writ across 'The Descendants' was an overlay of decisions and feelings and inner turmoil: unseen cinema." (Read the full review...) 751 words, 10/17/11 Norman Wilner, Toronto Now: EXCELLENT (cg) "...it's Judy Greer who ends up stealing the picture with just three stunning scenes as a sympathetic spectator to the family drama." (Read the full review...) 227 words, 11/17/11 Curt Holman, Atlanta Creative Loafing: EXCELLENT (cg) "...hits its stride in its second half, when it dispenses with the forced jokes and finds the emotional truths in painful situations." (Read the full review...) 456 words, 11/23/11 MaryAnn Johanson, Flick Filosopher: OUTSTANDING (cg) "Some movies just get it all right." (Read the full review...) 1,013 words, 11/23/11
Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "Rarely has a contemporary movie taken in so much life and revealed it with such depth... flows with a life of its own that's a good approximation of what we know as real life." (Read the full review...) 1,480 words, 11/18/11 A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...surprising, moving and frequently very funny.... a film that understands, in every way, how hard it can be to say goodbye." (Read the full review...) 1,132 words, 11/16/11 Anthony Lane, New Yorker: OUTSTANDING "This is fairly fresh terrain for Clooney." (Read the full review...) 596 words, 11/14/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...conversational in its pathos, wry in its wisdom, very much an extension of the smart, sardonic sensibility Payne brought to 'Sideways,' and 'About Schmidt.' " (Read the full review...) 957 words, 11/16/11 Dana Stevens, Slate: FAIR "...a disappointment... somewhere around the midpoint I found myself watching with a sinking sensation of is-that-all-there-is? aimlessness that I don't think Payne intended." (Read the full review...) 1,107 words, 11/17/11 Andrew O'Hehir, Salon: VERY GOOD "Clooney's understated performance is the heart of the movie's genius.... how much you like it will largely be a question of whether you enjoy getting there at Payne's leisurely pace." (Read the full review...) 813 words, 09/13/11
Peter Debruge, Daily Variety: OUTSTANDING "...tackles some of the prickliest issues a contempo family can face with such sensitivity that it's hardly noticeable you're being enlightened while entertained." (Read the full review...) 1,069 words, 09/02/11 Todd McCarthy, Hollywood Reporter: OUTSTANDING "...nuances, fluctuating attitudes, loaded looks and tonal inflections among the main characters; the ensemble work is terrific." (Read the full review...) 1,051 words, 09/02/11 Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times: EXCELLENT "...conversational in its pathos, wry in its wisdom, very much an extension of the smart, sardonic sensibility Payne brought to 'Sideways,' and 'About Schmidt.' " (Read the full review...) 957 words, 11/16/11 Emanuel Levy, Cinema 24/7: OUTSTANDING (cg) "...beautifully written, splendidly acted... adds another glorious panel to Alexander Payne's already distinguished if still brief career." (Read the full review...) 855 words, 09/07/11 A.O. Scott, New York Times: OUTSTANDING "...surprising, moving and frequently very funny.... a film that understands, in every way, how hard it can be to say goodbye." (Read the full review...) 1,132 words, 11/16/11 Joe Morgenstern, Wall Street Journal: OUTSTANDING "Rarely has a contemporary movie taken in so much life and revealed it with such depth... flows with a life of its own that's a good approximation of what we know as real life." (Read the full review...) 1,480 words, 11/18/11
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