Classic Oscar bait, it’s one of those typical dysfunctional family stories that doesn’t bring anything special to the table. The acting’s passable (Shailene Woodley isn’t the most convincing crier, Nick Krause makes his character way more annoying than he probably should be; Clooney isn’t really challenging himself in any way) but none of it is allowed to shine due to the writing. It’s functionally emotional in places but the character arcs and construction of scenes always feels basic and predictable, so it didn’t really move me in any significant way. I think this really needed to dig into its central thesis of discovering the mistakes made by a loved one that’s about to pass, rather than giving us this soft drama/comedy about everything surrounding that. On top of that, the direction isn’t very good either. No movie shot in Hawai should be allowed to look this bland. Isn’t the whole idea supposed to be that we’re juxtaposing this sad story with the idyllic location? It’s not entirely devoid of interesting shots, but generally the camera stays too close to the actors and the colours stay fairly muted throughout. Add to that a really plain, sappy score, as well as some pointless use of narration, and you have the exact middle-of-the-road type of experience that was quick to be praised by critics and the Academy at the time.

4.5/10