[TimovieMan]

The Descendants - 4.5 / 5

It's the most likely candidate for a Best Picture and Best Actor Oscar in a few weeks, and now that I've seen it, I can understand why. Alexander Payne, a director who kept improving over the years (Election was good, About Schmidt was very good, Sideways was brilliant), basically does another Sideways here: the feel of the film is very alike, and even though it's about completely different topics, it's a film that'll easily move you. It'll make you laugh and it can make you cry (without being too sappy). Couple that with a few great performances (this is Clooney at his best and the two young girls who play his daughters do a brilliant job as well) and a very Hawaiian soundtrack (expect a lot of ukeleles and singing in Hawaiian), and you have the best new film I've seen in over a year.

My favourite quote from the movie came in Clooney's voice-over:
"Somehow it feels natural to find a daughter of mine on a different island. My family seems exactly like an archipelago - all part of the same geographic expression but still islands - separate and alone, always drifting slowly apart."