As he finished reading "The Descendants," which arrived in January 2007 as an unpublished manuscript, Jim Burke knew he had to turn it into a movie.

"I knew — I personally knew — that this was a story I loved, that I could see as a film and could see a film adaptation of," he said. "I just knew I had to have it."

His partners at the movie production company Ad Hominem Enterprises — Jim Taylor and Alexander Payne — agreed. Taylor and Payne won Oscars for co-writing 2004’s "Sideways," which was directed by the latter. Payne also directed "The Descendants."

The book touched a nerve with Burke, a veteran filmmaker who saw a piece of himself in the story’s main character, Matt King. King must cope with a wife in a coma and a pair of rebellious daughters — one 10, the other 17 — who challenge him at every juncture.

Burke, 53, was a single parent, and King’s daughters reminded him of his own daughter as she grew up.

She’s now a 23-year-old sports journalist.

"It’s my favorite film because it’s the most personal to me," Burke said. "There are some ways I relate to Matt King. I’m a father and I have a daughter. And I love my daughter a lot, but she is also a mystery to me."

Burke was surprised to learn that the story, told from King’s perspective, was written by a woman, Hawaii author Kaui Hart Hemmings.

"I thought she was a man," Burke said. "She totally and perfectly captured what it was like for a man raising daughters and the thoughts that go through your head and the weight of that responsibility."

Finding the right tone for the film was a challenge because the story often shifts quickly from humor to sadness. To succeed, a film needs good editing, Burke said.

"When a tone shifts like that, it is one of the more delicate parts of making a film," Burke said. "The editing of a movie is like preparing a dish if you’re cooking something. You taste it many times. We screened this movie over and over to friends and family and asked, ‘Did that part work?’"

And the most important editing for Burke? The film’s final scene.

"It makes me feel hopeful for this family," Burke said. "And it makes me feel hopeful in particular for Matt King."