The Descendants (2011)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Descendants (2011) -- A. Payne

I've enjoyed Alexander Payne's films (Sideways, Election, etc.) so I picked this up even though I am generally over-saturated with George Clooney at this point.  Here, he plays the dad who is coping with his wife in a coma and his 10 and 17 yr old daughters in Hawaii where they live (and are descendants of the original indigenous royalty). Payne keeps things gently rolling (or is that the Hawaiian music?) and Clooney provides a very low-key almost one-note performance (perhaps too low-key?).  I did feel a few times that I was watching something meant to be therapeutic, as the script investigated the characters' relationships to each other and exposed their general humanness.  But eventually I was won over, probably by the Ozu-like interludes that allow for (but do not demand) reflection and the not entirely predictable course of action.