Five Academy Award Nominations including Best Picture and Best Actor, George Clooney
Matt King (George Clooney) is descended from Hawaiian royalty and finds himself, after his father’s death, as the sole trustee of 25,000 acres of pristine land on the island of Kaua’i. He is charged with leading the group of cousins who will decide the fate of the land. As if this was not enough stress and pressure, his wife is in a coma from a boating accident.
We quickly find out that Matt is the “back up parent”. He hasn’t been very involved with his children’s lives, constantly busy as a real estate attorney. His wife’s accident has forced him to take over a role with which he’s unfamiliar; father.
After extracting his oldest daughter, Alex, from her boarding school on the Big Island, things get crazy. Matt tells Alex that whatever disagreements she and her mother had, it’s time to let go. Alex can’t believe her dad is so unaware and enlightens him with the news that his wife was having an affair.
The rest of the movie Matt and Alex collaborate to find a way to inform Elizabeth’s lover that she is dying. The whole while Alex’s friend Sid is along for comic relief and helps to protect ten year old daughter Scottie from what’s really happening.
With a self-imposed deadline three days away, everyone in Hawai’i is watching and waiting to see what the King family will do with their land. As Matt takes condescending verbal blows from his father in law and hosts a gathering to announce his wife’s fate, he is slowly evolving and learning. The eventual realization is that “nothing just happens” and everything we do and the choices we make have consequences; not only for us, but for everyone around us.
Clooney’s character goes from a clueless father who seems ill equipped to deal with anything to a man capable of standing up for what is just and right. In the end, though there is great loss, there is also enormous gain. Matt King and his girls will be okay.
I love the opening voice over of Clooney’s character as we see everyday images of Hawai’i. Having lived there, I can truly appreciate his every word. I also love that his character doesn’t use any money from his trust, but instead lives off what he makes as an attorney because “I don’t want my daughters growing up entitled and spoiled. And I agree with my father – you give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing.”
Though the story is interesting and I agree with the decision Matt King makes in the end (I won’t ruin it for you.), the two reasons I was able to endure this movie are George Clooney’s performance and the Hawaiian music soundtrack. Not usually a Clooney fan, I thought he was fantastic. Shailene Woodley also delivers a notable performance as oldest daughter Alex. I appreciate the real situations that occur in this movie, though overall the pace was just a bit too slow for my liking.
Fellow movie goer Sally, who saw the movie at the suggestion of her daughter, really enjoyed the film. “I never knew how the story was going to end. I love the plot. It was beautifully written,” she shared. Sally added that “this movie brought out how the decisions people make affect everyone else. The main character realizes this in the end.”
If you want to keep up with the Oscar race, enjoy some wonderful Hawaiian music and see George Clooney at his best, this movie is worth the trip and a great place to see it is our own Village Theatre.
Starring: George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Amara Miller, Judy Greer, Beau Bridges
Directed by Alexander Payne
Running Time 1 hour 55 minutes
Rated R for language and some sexual references
Coronado Movie Times: https://coronadotimes.com/profiles/blogs/coronado-village-theatre-movie
Kellee Hearther
Online Editorial Intern
eCoronado.com
Have something you would love to read about? Contact me at [email protected]
