Alexander Payne works with novels better than any other U.S. director

I really like the movies of Alexander Payne, and "The Descendants" continues to make the case that he's one of the few writer-directors around, at least in the U.S., making movies on serious themes about adults and their problems, issues, and pleasures. He casts George Clooney against type here, as a wealthy member of the Hawaiian landowner class whom we meet at his wife's bedside as she lies dying from a boating accident brain concussion. Clooney, suddenly forced to be resposible dad, has to deal with younger two daughters acting out and out of control, plus the snarky disrespectful boyfriend of older daughter - all this, yet it's not a domestic comedy about a single dad becoming wise and competent, it's a moving drama that involves all of the characters - as Clooney learns (spoilers here) that his wife had been having an affair, which forces him to rethink everything about his life and his marriage. This movie adapted from a little-known (at least to me) novel - Payne works with novels better than any other director out there, most won't even approach a novel unless it's already a best-seller, and then they tend to ruin it. This smart movie starts off a little slow (too much VO narration - compare with opening of Payne's Sideways, which quickly established Giamatti's sad-sack character as he did a crossword while driving the LA freeways) and the end a bit drawn out, but it's probably the most intelligent, understated American film I've seen this year. I also liked the Hawaiian guitar soundtrack - though I may be alone on that one.