The Descendants

For the long-awaited follow-up to his Oscar-winning dramedy, Sideways, writer/director Alexander Payne travels to the pristine beaches of Hawaii for The Descendants, a tale of grief and forgiveness that remorsefully fails to find the humor in death. "Paradise can go fuck itself," laments Matt King (a miscast George Clooney), commenting on the misperception that life in Hawaii is a never-ending vacation. King, by means of a lazy and ponderous intro narration, explains his wife is in a coma that may kill her, leaving him, "the understudy" parent, fully responsible for raising their two challenging daughters (first-timer Amara Miller and a skillfully poignant Shailene Woodley). King's grave plight grows worse once he discovers his not-so-loving wife was having an affair. Incensed, he takes his daughters—and, inexplicably, their surfer dude buddy—on an island-hopping journey to confront her lover. While the premise seems ideal for Payne's bittersweet sensibilities, this narrative is so filled with rage that the humor rarely lands. The film practically seethes, the unwieldy drama drowning Payne's trademark biting humor, and is stunted by ungainly pacing that stutters along like Clooney in flip-flops. By the end, The Descendants is a forgettable journey.