Alexander Payne's personal style is outstanding, with the same soothing rhythm of "Sideways" and "Nebraska", the theme of family and search, just the right light comedy and dark humor, ridiculous bridges and very sympathetic protagonists, I really can't find another director with the same style. In a sense, he even has the style of a Japanese director and a Chinese director. I like his style of comedy the most, clever humor, which only makes people slightly chuckle, but the more you think about it, the more funny it becomes.
Another feature of Payne is the use of location. Hawaii is also an essential character in this film. It combines Hawaii's laid-back paradise temperament with the most tangled conflict between people. There is a strong artistic contrast. The conflict of the story is actually very simple, revolving around the topic of midlife crisis and children's education, but it is depicted in a very detailed and real way.
I have to say that the main actors made this movie, especially the two daughters, their acting skills are very realistic. Shailene Woodley is very surprising. It turned out that she was so good at acting when she was a child, full of aura. Sid is so funny, and the conversation with his father at night is also very reversal, adding depth to the character. George Clooney really played an ordinary father in a Hawaiian shirt and slippers, though still a little too handsome.
The fly in the ointment is that I don't like the story line of selling land very much. I don't feel that it is organically integrated with the family story line, but it may also be the original important story line of the novel, and there is no way to cut it completely.
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