Family Turmoil in Widescreen Hawai’i
Chatting with The Descendants’s Director Alexander Payne and Actress Shailene Woodley
Alexander Payne’s latest directorial effort, The Descendants, is by far one of the best films of 2011 and one that is destined to garner plenty of awards, including possibly a Best Actor Oscar for star George Clooney. The movie, which is adapted from a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, deals with a lawyer who tries to keep his family together after his wife suffers a boating accident while at the same time struggling with the choice of selling family land handed down from Hawaiian royalty.
Payne, the Academy Award-winning creator of Sideways, delivers a poignant and humorous and look at how untidy and unpredictable life can be. I sat down with the auteur, as well as young actress Shailene Woodley, who plays Clooney’s daughter in the movie and who will certainly be nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Welcome back to Santa Barbara. Our wine country owes you a lot.
