This year for the first time in recent memory I did not watch the Oscar ceremonies on TV or participate in an Oscar Pool. While it is true that I did not see many of the nominated films and performances this year, that is true most years. I did not tune in this year because I felt as though the outcome for many of the top awards was a foregone conclusion, and I did not agree with those conclusions. Will we remember the silent black and white film "the Artist" that took home three top honors in 10 years... let alone next year? I think not.
In my opinion, "the Descendants" was by far the best film of the year. George Clooney is my favorite actor, and he always excels. However, he played a very different character in this film- a man faced with a comatose, near-death wife who was having an affair and who is faced with the prospect of having to raise his young daughters alone. Nothing in his life prepares him for this situation and for a large business decision he must make on behalf of his extended family. However, his character comes to learn during the course of the film that his history, his experience, and his family make clear what he must do. There is no happy ending, but there is comfort in the knowledge that his character, like us, is not alone in this world. Isn't that what great films, like great books, help us to realize?
There are causes greater than ourselves. There are tales that must be told. Yes deeds matter, but so do words. "The Artist" could learn more than a few things from "the Descendants."
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