You'll feel for Clooney in funny, emotional 'The Descendants'

It isn't easy feeling sorry for George Clooney. It takes a trip to the other side of paradise to do it - in the deeply personal "The Descendants," a perfect balance of emotion and humor.

Outwardly, "The Descendants" is about busy and neglectful husband Matt King, played by Clooney, who finds out his wife is in a coma and may not live. Just as suddenly, he learns she has been carrying on an affair with a rival real estate developer.

She can't be accosted, and she can't defend herself - even if she wanted to - but can he forgive her from this distance? Can he accept the possibility of her death with no solution to this drama?

The husband also has his own guilt. He comes from one of the richest families in Hawaii, but he's had little time for a family life.

Suddenly, he's faced with taking care of his two daughters, ages 10 and 17. The younger (Amara Miller) is shy and removed. The elder (Shailene Woodley) is initially angry and rebellious toward him but, in a good performance by the actress, becomes adjusted and strong - strong enough to aid a father who previously ignored her.

In hands other than director Alexander Payne's, the story might have evolved as no more than a soap opera. Here, Payne, who seven years ago gave us "Sideways," proves again that he has a touch for balancing the funny and the emotional.

Clooney's real-life image is markedly different from that of the character he plays. In interviews, he comes off as something of a smart aleck.

With his square-jawed good looks, showgirl girlfriends, an Oscar and movie stardom, it's easy to forget that his crossover from TV to the big screen initially was marred by flops, most notably his turn as Batman in "Batman & Robin."

But recently, Clooney has been on a roll. He directed and wrote the Edward R. Murrow homage "Good Night, and Good Luck" and won a supporting actor Oscar for "Syriana."

If it were not for that earlier Academy Award, he might be a shoo-in this year. In "The Descendants," he shows that he really does know how to look sad. His performance is done with baggy Bermuda shorts, graying hair and a potbelly. He's put-upon, vulnerable and even suffering.

He is, though, worthy of our care. It is, by far, the best performance of his career.

The rest of the cast is unpredictable and vulnerable. Particularly good is Nick Krause as the stoner-slacker teen who best epitomizes the generation gap. Sid, the boyfriend of Matt's older daughter, is outwardly a loser, but at the same time, we are sure he's going to turn out OK.

The scene in which he tells about the death of his father is a moment of truth, not pathos. He explains: "We don't really talk about issues. We just settle back and have a good time." (We know it's not true, but we wish it were.)

Beau Bridges is a Hawaiian who hopes to turn the state into even more of a tourist trap. Robert Forster is the gruff father-in-law. Patricia Hastie is the wife, who has only one scene - an opener on water skis - before she spends the rest of the movie in bed.

The other star is Hawaii itself. The soundtrack is made up entirely of Hawaiian music.

At one point, Clooney's character faces the possibility or threat of selling off more than 200 acres of Hawaii's remaining undeveloped paradise.

It would mean hundreds of millions of dollars to his family, which is pressuring him to complete the deal. On the other hand, he thinks in terms of the land and its heritage.

"The Descendants" emerges as one of the year's best, and most down-to-earth, movies.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com