The Descendants Nominated for 5 Oscars

George Clooney, Alexander Payne Academy Noms

The Descendants has been nominated for five academy awards including Directing, Film Editing, Picture of the Year, Actor in a Leading Role and Best Writing, Adapted Screenplay. The film already won the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture and George Clooney won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture- Drama.

The Descendants' trailer stars George Clooney as Matt King, a Hawaiian lawyer whose wife has a boating accident and is in a permanent coma. When he finds out his wife has been having an affair, he takes his 2 teenaged daughters on a trip to the "main island" of Kauai to find her wife's lover.

Oscar and Golden Globe-winner Alexander Payne

Matt's family has been entrusted with the last "virgin" land on Kauai and he is being lobbied by many of his relatives and real estate barons to sell.The script is brought to life by director/writer Alexander Payne and aerial views of the islands and beaches have the appeal of a travel brochure.

Payne is known for directing:

• Election starring Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon
• About Schmidt starring Jack Nicholson and Kathy Bates
• Sideways starring Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church

Oscar and Golden Globe-winner George Clooney

Clooney never fails to impress. Whether he's playing a charming doctor on ER or a conflicted politician in The Ides of March, he has evolved into a serious actor and filmmaker in his own right (*=awards won).

• The American
• Up in the Air
• Good Night, and Good Luck*
• Michael Clayton
• Syriana*

"Clooney has never been better in a role that asks us to ignore his improbably good looks and see, instead, a baffled and unhinged tragedy in a Hawaiian shirt." - Jay Stone, The Vancouver Sun.

Supporting Cast: Shailene Woodley and Amara Miller

Clooney is expertly supported by "The younger creatures in the... film-well played by [Shailene] Woodley and [Amara] Miller, with a special mention to Nick Krause, who triumphs in the role of Sid [Woodley's on-screen boyfriend]"- Anthony Lane, The New Yorker

Alex (Woodley) appeals to a younger audience because we can't help but put ourselves in her situation: a clueless father, an internally lost little sister, and a mother who's waiting for someone to pull the plug.

The Descendants confirms George Clooney can put the role before the matinee idol image; he isn't sexy all the time- just 95% of it.