Clooney gives his all in coma comedy The Descendants

What you need to know

The Descendants is writer-director Alexander Payne's first film in seven years, following the darkly ironic, road-trip buddy movie, Sideways. Payne, described as a "champion of middle class losers", also directed About Schmidt and Election.

The film is adapted from a novel by Hawaiian author Kaui Hart Hemmings and stars George Clooney as successful property developer and inept father, Matt King, who is forced to step up his parenting skills when a boat accident leaves his wife in a coma.

It has already won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Drama, and is nominated in the Best Picture category for an Oscar. Shailene Woodley, who plays Clooney's daughter, was also nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress. Beau Bridges plays Clooney's cousin.

What the critics like

Payne has a talent for making comedy out of stories that are not inherently funny, says Dan Jolin in Empire. Late-midlife crisis; dysfunctional progeny; controversial real-estate sale; wife in coma - it "isn't exactly guffaw-a-minute" stuff. But this film is "something to be cherished".

The perceptive script "zings resonantly", avoiding easy options, adds Jolin, while Clooney, assisted by an able cast of bit-parters, drops his glamour image so we see the actor, "wrinkles and all".

The phrase "coma comedy" comes to mind, says Kate Muir in The Times, but the film is more profound than that. It's superbly acted, and the "brilliant crunchy stuff" is in the relationships between Matt and his daughters – "moving without descending into sentimentality".

If may not quite be the "Oscar sucker-punch" many anticipated, says Catherine Shoard in The Guardian. But this unusually nuanced tale lingers "as a great film ought".

What they don't like

Clooney gives a sensitive and mature characterisation of a man who's been found wanting in both sensitivity and maturity, says Anthony Quinn in The Independent. "The curious thing is that The Descendants doesn't match up to Clooney's performance." It is a frustrating experience because all the great things are there – urbane irony, wrong-footing wit, great acting – "but not properly gelling".

The style is conspicuous and mannered, says Ryan Gilbey in New Statesman, and "the pace is so leisurely that in some shots you can practically see the plumeria growing".

It's a warm exercise in gentle observation, modest laughs and easy compassion, says Dave Calhoun in Time Out. "But it lacks the incision to make a major impact as drama or comedy. It's too laid-back to offend or excite."

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