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100
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The New York Times A.O. Scott
To call The Descendants perfect would be a kind of insult, a betrayal of its commitment to, and celebration of, human imperfection. Its flaws are impossible to distinguish from its pleasures.
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100
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Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Payne's low-key approach only deepens the film's intimate power. Want a movie you can really connect with? The Descendants is damn near perfect.
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100
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USA Today Claudia Puig
It's a precarious balance, but Payne blends wit and poignancy so artfully it feels like an exquisitely choreographed dance.
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100
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Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What happens is that we get vested in the lives of these characters. That's rare in a lot of movies.
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100
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Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
Another beautifully chiseled piece of filmmaking - sharp, funny, generous, and moving.
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100
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Washington Post Ann Hornaday
A pitch-perfect movie that threads a microscopically tiny needle between high comedy and devastating drama.
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100
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Wall Street Journal Joe Morgenstern
Rarely has a contemporary movie taken in so much life and revealed it with such depth of feeling.
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88
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Boston Globe Ty Burr
I can't think of another movie this year that made me laugh or weep harder for the whole lumpy business of being - the compromises and connections that get us through the day and somehow add up to entire lives.
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80
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Los Angeles Times Betsy Sharkey
It makes The Descendants a tragedy infused with comedy and calls for a balancing act from filmmaker and star alike, a tightrope they navigate with nary a wobble.
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75
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San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle
The movie itself is a worthy thing, too, but it's not as good as Clooney is here, which is to say, it's not great.
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company.