The Descendants (2011)

THE DESCENDANTS  (2011)  ¢ ¢ ¢
    D: Alexander Payne
    George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller,
    Nick Krause, Robert Forster, Beau Bridges,
    Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer, Laird Hamilton
George Clooney plays a Hawaiian lawyer forced to take on a more active role as a parent after his wife goes into a coma. He's got two daughters, aged 10 and 17. They're just as smart and demanding and annoying as kids can be, and he hasn't got a clue how to deal with them. Other characters enter the picture. His older daughter's slacker boyfriend. His inflexible, hard-headed father-in-law. The realtor his wife was cheating on him with. The realtor's wife. And a whole slew of relatives who are waiting for  him to sign off on a land deal that could make them all rich. There are few surprises, but Payne gets the Hawaiian vibe about right, and he has a nice way of giving each character a moment of grace, even those you're inclined not to sympathize with. It's a sitcom, really, but it's a sitcom done real well.