Archive for February 12th, 2012

Short Take: A touching story about a family becoming a family

Director: Alexander Payne

Screenwriters: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash; Kaui Hart Hemmings (novel)

Cast: George Clooney, Shallene Woodley, Amara Miller, Matthew Lillard, Judy Greer

Length: 1h 55m

Synopsis: Matt King (Clooney) is a father of two girls, a teenager named Alex (Woodley) and a ten year old named Scottie (Miller), with whom he doesn’t have very strong connections. For years his wife had effectively been the sole parent, while he focused on work. The family lives in Hawaii because Matt’s lineage goes back to the early days of its history, and he’s the majority owner of much of the land because one of his wealthy ancestors married a Hawaiian princess. Sadly, Matt’s wife recently experienced a serious boating accident and became braindead, leaving Matt in charge of a family he doesn’t know how to interact with. On top of this, Matt must decide what to do with an expansive plot of land that his large extended family must sell, or else the trust fund that’s lasted for generations runs out. The islanders, meanwhile, are pressuring him not to sell. And if all of this weren’t bad enough, Matt discovers that before his wife’s accident she had been having an affair, and thinking strongly about divorce. With only days before she’s scheduled to be taken off life support, Matt and his daughters spend their time trying to find closure by tracking down her secret lover. Along the way, their revised family unit makes strides toward coming together in ways that didn’t previously seem possible.

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