PAUL Newman had a habit of taking on movies which never made any reference to his looks, despite the fact that they were pretty hard to miss.

More often than not he played the slightly dopey schmo, the world-weary cop or the loser in love, rather than the invincible, shining hero.

I'm not saying George Clooney is any replacement for Paul Newman, but despite his much-talked about looks George finds his easiest stride too when he plays the buffoon, and the guy who never quite gets the sparkling prize.

The Descendents is one of those roles and it is one which is even getting his detractors worked up.

The piece sees him looking a little ragged around the edges and struggling to cope with a life, with good reason.

It has just become very complex.

He plays Matthew King, whose adrenaline-junkie wife Liz (Patricia Hastie) lies in a vegetative state after a water-skiing accident.

Doctors tell him there is no hope of recovery and everyone should say their farewells. With a heavy heart, Matthew gathers up his 10-year-old daughter Scottie (Amara Miller) and his rebellious 17-year-old Alex (Shailene Woodley).

The older child stopped talking to her mother shortly before the accident and it transpires that Alex discovered Liz was having an affair before her accident.

Matthew is devastated but he eventually decides to take a two-day vacation to find his love rival Brian and tell him about Liz's injury.

"Everyone who loves Elizabeth deserves a chance to say goodbye," Matthew tells an incredulous Alex.

Set against the glamorous backdrop of the Hawaiian islands, The Descendants is a heartbreaking portrait of a family in crisis, and Clooney finds a repertoire of emotions he doesn't often summon up on screen for this one.

The character charts the tricky waters of fatherhood, with a 10-year-old who is despondent over her mother's condition and a 17-year-old who is turning to alcohol, drugs and promiscuity.

"This guy is really going through a phase in his life where he wants to do right by everyone, and I don't know that that would be part of my make-up. He's caught up in a strange place in his life and career," says Clooney.

The scene in which his character prepares to give the final order to doctors, kissing his wife on the forehead and whispering, "Goodbye my love, my pain", as a tear rolls down his cheek, could have been unwatchable, but it is a killer.

And let's hope George's more regular stints in the director and producers' chairs don't see Clooney, the actor, fade from our screens, just as he is getting interesting.

The Descendents is on in local cinemas now.