The Descendants ***

At the Golden Globe awards, George Clooney won Best Actor and director Alexander Payne won Best Film for The Descendants, a film that has caught the attention of movie-goers - and for a good reason.

It offers a refreshing contrast to the superheroes, sci-fi blockbusters and violent-crime dramas that dominate the American movie scene.

It is about ordinary people dealing with their shortcomings and the unfinished feuds that can shatter a family. It's about people who are morally careless and sometimes just greedy for attention, love or money. It's an American story that plays out in Hawaii, which became incorporated into the US in 1959.

The film's story, however, goes further back to when the family settled in the islands in 1860. They were plantation owners who grew rich. But now, in a different world, their descendants are growing older and more fractious. They have bratty children who don't care where they live as long as they have enough cash to live in luxury.

The central figure is Matthew King (Clooney), a rich real-estate dealer at odds with the family. He's a widower, still grieving for his wife. His daughters, 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley) and 10-year-old Scottie (Amara Miller) are a handful.

Alex is reckless; experimenting with sex, drugs and liquor, and Scottie is young and demanding. Since his wife died, Matthew has withdrawn into himself, and the family is on the verge of a breakdown.

His older daughter cannot wait to get away from him, and he has no idea how to handle Scottie. There is also bad blood between Matthew and his father-in-law (Robert Forster), who blames Matthew for the death of his daughter. It's a fraught situation, but two events become a catalyst for a family crisis.

Alex is booted out of her expensive school and forced to come home. She is a disruptive presence, and Scottie follows her lead. To make things worse, Alex has brought a silent, sullen teenage boyfriend to live with her in their family home.

The turning point comes when a secret is revealed that throws Matthew's life into a crisis. As he struggles with it, he gains little support from the people around him. The only thing he can still trust, implicitly, is his long family heritage, those long-gone settlers who came to Hawaii and built the fortune off which the family is living.

The focal point of the drama is 10000ha of waterfront property on Kauai. The various aunts, uncles and cousins all expect to get a big pay-out when the land is sold to developers. However, something primal and traditional arises in Matthew. He knows he has allowed his life to slip into angry self-pity, but he is determined to keep this pristine valley intact. Those Americans who came to Hawaii 152 years ago created something valuable.

Matthew believes that it must be honoured and maintained.

He must protect it from his avaricious family, even if it creates a feud.

Alexander Payne wrote the script, based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings, and directed the film, and he has made a graceful job of it. He avoids the trap of wallowing in the lush beauty of the islands to tell a taut, abrasive story with a formidable cast.

Clooney's subtle performance is complex but strong, and he is backed by a squad of good character actors such as Beau Bridges, Robert Forster and Judy Greer.

The standout performance comes from 20-year-old Shailene Woodley, a TV actress, in her first role in a feature movie, and she is wonderful. Her mercurial presence and strength of character shine out in her portrayal of a wayward brat who evolves into a sympathetic, intelligent woman.

Woodley has already won 24 nominations for this role, and an Oscar nomination would not have been out of the question. As the cliché goes: We are seeing a star being born.

Sadly this was not to be, but Clooney could well add to his success at the Golden Globes.

Short Takes: Jack and Jill **

Adam Sandler is, at best, an acquired taste. He's brash, vulgar and obsessed with bodily fluids. In this film he plays Jack, a movie producer, and Katie Holmes plays his wife, Erin. Jack is wooing Al Pacino, playing himself, as an egotistic actor who may or may not appear in Jack's new movie. The chaos begins when Jack's sister, Jill, comes to visit. Jill is needy and intrusive and the "joke" is that Sandler also plays the role of Jill. It's the usual Sandler formula.

Man on a Ledge ***

A squad of serious Hollywood talents perform deftly under the direction of young Danish director Asger Leth in his feature film debut. Man on a Ledge is a slick puzzle thriller, much of which plays out on the window-ledge of a Manhattan highrise. Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) plays a cop accused of a crime. To prove his innocence, he escapes from custody and steps onto a narrow ledge on the 25th floor. It's a smart gimmick. His intention is to get his version of events to the media. A police negotiator, Lydia (Elizabeth Banks), coaxes his story out of him as she stands by the open window. On the ground, people are checking the facts to see if he is lying or telling the truth. Is Nick's stunt a genuine plea for justice or a plan designed to send people on a wild goose chase? It is by no means as simple as it looks. The intricate plot often seems barely credible, but the pace keeps it working. Ed Harris, Ed Burns, Jamie Bell and Kyra Sedgwick add to a glossy cast, and while it is not Oceans 11 or Inside Job, it is easy viewing.

One Life ****

Using mostly new footage, but also amazing archival images, this BBC documentary focuses on the moment a living creature is born. It is about how the parents of a newborn creature stay around to nurture and feed it as it prepares to fight for its existence. It's also about how the arrival of the next generation connects the genetic information and the inherited instincts that will allow them to thrive. Using new film and camera techniques, the birth of many species have been captured for the first time. Serious movie talent is involved: Daniel Craig narrates and Oscar-winning composer George Fenton creates a unique music score. It will be available on DVD, but seeing it on the big screen makes all the difference.

Close Up

Martin  Scorsese's new movie, Hugo, is a movie buff's delight.

Scorsese is passionate about the history of film - and he has done great work restoring vintage films that date back to 1910.

One of the pioneers of moving pictures - George Méliès - was the first man to explore the possibility of making films based on fantasy themes as early as 1902. Not only were they "proper" movies, albeit short, some even had coloured sequences.

At the time, his films were considered a passing fad.

Scorsese read the illustrated book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick in 2007, and the film is based on it. It is a fantasy about an impoverished boy, Hugo, (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the roof of a bustling train station.

His job is to keep all the clocks set to the right time, but he also spies on everyone who comes into the station. He is fascinated by a sad, silent old man, Méliès (Ben Kingsley).

When Hugo finds a metal automaton, a kind of puppet, he believes the old man and the automaton are connected.

"It's really the story of a little boy," explains Scorsese, "who becomes friends with an old man, living in poverty, working in a dusty shop in which few people come to buy. Méliès was the original creator of moving pictures, but World War 1 intervened and his work was forgotten.

"He was rediscovered in 1927 and his reputation was revived. In my film, the cinema itself is the connection - the automaton becomes the emotional connection between the boy, his brutal father, Méliès, and his family. It's about how people express their vision, emotionally and psychologically, and how they realise their own brilliance by using the technology of film," Scorsese said.

• Hugo opens on February 10