The Descendants (2011)

George Clooney, looking as weathered as he can, mourns the loss of his comatose wife through ponderous voice-over and discovers her recent affair in a soapy comedy set in Hawaii. Clooney and teenager Shailene Woodley are excellent, but the film is cold.

d: Alexander Payne | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
Mom was cheating on you. | Stalking. | We’ll surprise your sister.

The Ides of March (2011)

George Clooney directs an elementary story of an idealized presidential candidate (played by Clooney) who turns out to be just as human as any politician, and aid Ryan Gosling realizes what everyone already knows — that politics is a cynical business.

d: George Clooney | imdb.com | trailer | Charlie Rose
the State of the Union | Make it mandatory. | My name is Molly.

The American (2010)

George Clooney plays a hitman near the end, the maker of one last firearm in a smart, mannered film set in Italy, where even the prostitutes are beautiful and sophisticated. The movie is so good, so sure of itself, it could have been made in the 1970s.

d: Anton Corbijn | imdb.com | trailer

Up in the Air (2009)

Director Jason Reitman captures the current zeitgeist of unemployment, and George Clooney (a corporate downsizer) delivers the bad news. Clooney is at his best — charming, perfectly dressed and engaged by smart, sexy Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

d: Jason Reitman | imdb.com | trailer | “Charlie Rose”
Bar club cards | I’m not a tour guide. | Miles | Something real

The Men Who Stare at Goats (2009)

George Clooney, Jeff Bridges (wonderful as another version of the Dude), Kevin Spacey and Stephen Lang are members of the New Earth Army, an experimental Army program centered on parapsychology in an enjoyable war comedy with little payoff.

d: Grant Heslov | imdb.com | trailer | the book | the documentary