There is no doubt that George Clooney will get an Oscar nomination, and possibly win, for his performance in "The Descendants" where, not only is he in every frame of the film except for 2-3 strictly scenic views, he is at the top of his game. The only thing that is unfair about this is that the rest of the  performances are just as good as his but he will be the center of the reviews as his role, status and acting demands.

Clooney is the father of 17 and 11 year old daughters who has mainly stayed in the background of their lives leaving the upbringing to his wife who is now in the hospital in a coma
who will soon be taken off life support. He is involved with his
business of being a lawyer plus the trustee of his ancestral family land and is now thrown into the role of main parent in addition to having to tell his family and friends of
his wife's pending death. In anger, as both daughters are angry, his
oldest tells him that their mother has been cheating on him. We watch him as he becomes overwhelmed and slowly but surely does the right thing, not only for himself but all involved.

The director, Alexander Payne, and his co-writers Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, make a couple of missteps one being with the character
Sid who really is an unneeded accessory in the film except for one
punchline involving exactly that, a punch. Sid is played by Nick Krause and he does very well in the role but wouldn't have been missed if the part was cut.

Matching Clooney on every level is Shailene Woodley playing the very angry older daughter though it is not explained why she is so angry and rebellious or why she would want Sid to be with her. Amara Miller as the younger
daughter acts just like a younger daughter would. Matthew Lillard plays the man who Clooney's wife cheater with and Judy Greer his wife who has a very telling moment
when she visits the woman her husband has been cheating with. In small
but effective roles are Beau Bridges, representing the cousins, who
could make a lot of money if Clooney agrees to sell the land, Robert Foster as the father in law who felt Matt (Clooney) was never good enough for his daughter and that daughter, Patricia Hastie, plays the wife/mother/daughter in a coma.

One mistake was having so much Hawaiian music on the soundtrack. Yes the film takes place in Hawaii but at times the music was intrusive if not annoying.

With
all the above said I really can't point at anyone thing as to why this
movie, which certainly should have, didn't move me. I was in the
minority regarding this director's "Sideways" and I will be in the
minority with this movie. It is a film to see for the ensemble acting,
including that performance by Clooney, but it isn't a movie I would want to see again.

A
line from the movie that stays with me is, "I want my children to have
enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing."