OK, I am not getting the hype about this one. It's a solid movie about a family going through a bad time, but it did not blow me away. George Clooney is really good, the girls who play his daughters are awesome, and all the smaller performances are at least solid. It also showed family groups of real-looking people: some with good teeth, some with bad, some dressed like crap, lots of bad hair. Hollywood doesn't normally show us real people, so I liked this.
I did not like the editing, which was choppy. I also thought there were far too many long takes of scenery (yes, Hawaii is pretty) and close ups that gave no value. I was a bit bored. And the soundtrack - 100% Hawaiian music - was grating and distracting after a while. I do not think this is Alexander Payne's best film. Some of his other movies/characters really tread the edge of human behavior, like Thomas Hayden Church gleefully and compulsively sleeping around on his bachelor-party trip and Paul Giametti frantically drinking his prized bottle of wine at a hamburger stand instead of seeing his ex-wife at a wedding. Or Reese Witherspoon's Tracy Flick! Now there's a character to watch.
This will be nominated for an Academy Award for best picture, director and maybe adapted screenplay. Clooney may be nominated. But I suggest you watch Sideways or Election if you have limited time rather than this one. These people were way too sane and controlled for me. Even when they acted out, they did so in a tame manner. I did not buy it.
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