The Descendants

Thorough and subtle analyses of emotionally stranded men are a recurring theme in the work of Alexander Payne: the characters of Matthew Broderick in Election, Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt, Paul Giamatti in Sideways and now George Clooney all wrestle with their own selves. Payne chooses his projects with care and also avoids clichés and melodramatic pitfalls in this new comedy drama.
The Descendants, based on the debut novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, follows a man in Hawaii who is at a turning point in his life. His wife has gone into a coma after an accident and he is forced to look at himself. Until then he had been ‘the back-up parent’, but now this self-appointed understudy has to take full responsibility as a parent for his two daughters. In addition, he wrestles with the painful discovery that his wife had an extramarital affair, and with the question of whether he should sell his land for a large sum of money.