Moments Of Bittersweet Alohas

Maybe it's the traveler in me, but he first thought I had after seeing "The Descendants" was how beautiful Hawaii was, and I need to rectify the fact that I have not been there in almost 32 years, and truly, I don't even remember much from my very brief visit there.  The place is such a prominent presence in the film that you could consider it as George Clooney's co-star. And this is definitely Clooney's movie - he is on almost every frame of it, and he carries its emotional core. He has been lauded for his performance here, and has won awards for it, including the Golden Globe, and I would have to agree it is a great performance all in all. But, I must say, that it took me a while to warm up to his performance. There was something about it that rang untrue in the beginning, and I just couldn't believe it. Actually, I didn't like most of the characters in the movie, including his children. Maybe it's a cultural thing, but on the day that they unplug their mother's life support machine, the whole family goes to the beach. Maybe it's just me, but in a situation like that, i would not leave my mother's side. Yes, I know that the trip is  a pivotal plot point for something else, but that is just one of the reasons why the character weren't endearing. I had loved Alexander Payne's previous movies, like "Sideways," and "Election," so maybe it's a personal taste thing that is making me just liking this film instead of loving it. It's just a little too much of "rich white people" problems which may be a reaction as I look around and see the current economic climate. I wanna go to Hawaii....