Movie review -- "The Descendants"

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It's Oscar season. That means some of the "best picture" contenders have bee re-released for a limited run.

I could be happy watching George Clooney read a phone book.  But of course, this movie is so much more.

There are two seemingly unrelated story lines.  Clooney plays Matt King, husband and father to 10 year olf and 17 year old daughters. His wife is in a coma and there is lots of family drama.

The second story line involves King's family business affairs.  King and his cousins are descended from Hawaiian royalty.  King is the sole trustee of the family inheritance, which includes a huge parcel of land which the family plans to sell to a developer.

It's a film about relationships, very emotional, very intense.

The film isn't about Hawaii per se, yet the beauty of the islands serves as an interesting backdrop.  At first I thought "this story could be set anywhere".  But no, it could not be just "anywhere".  Hawaii itself is a character in the storyline.

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