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THE DESCENDANTS

Alexander Payne might have mellowed over the years, but he hasn't lost his edge. After four films he's arrived at his own complicated version of family values and reconciled himself to feel-good resolutions — even for a story involving an accident, teenage alcoholism, adultery, death, and that ultimate destroyer of souls, a real estate transaction. Credit in part George Clooney's performance as the scion of a wealthy Hawaiian family faced with the disposition of a huge tract of inherited real estate and also with more personal matters, including a wife in a coma and daughters (Amara Miller and Shailene Woodley, both excellent) who are a handful. In relating this screwball melodrama Payne juggles moods, leavening complex emotions with goofy humor, illuminating the frailties and virtues we are all heir to, regardless of whose descendants we may be.

READ the full review here.

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ARTICLES BY PETER KEOUGH
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  •   REVIEW: PARIAH  |  January 03, 2012
    Compared to the non-stop trauma of Precious , or even Gun Hill Road , Dee Rees's first feature plays like an episode of The Cosby Show .
  •   HOLLYWOOD OFFERS BOTCHED OPERATIONS AND ALTERED LIVES IN 2012  |  December 28, 2011
    Those who got a thrill last spring when the SEALS took out Osama bin Laden will have more of the same covert ass-kicking to look forward to in theaters as we enter 2012.
  •   THE BEST FILMS OF 2011 ARE NOT THE BALLYHOOED  |  December 21, 2011
    The films this year were kind of like the current field of Republican presidential candidates: some are entertaining, but there's no clear frontrunner, and there's more attention on the flashiest and least substantial than on the more thoughtful and genuine.
  •   REVIEW: THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO  |  December 20, 2011
    Unfortunately, Fincher doesn't add much to Niels Arden Oplev's Swedish version: more Googling and plot-compressing montages and an altered but still convoluted ending.
  •   REVIEW: THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN  |  December 20, 2011
    I don't know how fans of the title hero are going to take this adaptation, since I'm not familiar with the classic Hergé comic strip on which it's based, but followers of Steven Spielberg might regard it as a second-rate, animated Indiana Jones.

 See all articles by: PETER KEOUGH

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