History Film / TheDescendants

** [[spoiler: Matt asks Brian if he's ever been in Matt's bedroom during the affair with Elizabeth. When Matt says he has once, Matt tells him he should've lied. Brian then corrects himself: "Alright, twice."]]

* AlohaHawaii: Played with; although there's lots of beautiful scenery -- it ''is'' Hawaii, after all -- it mainly focuses on the people who actually live there, for whom life isn't always like what the tourists would expect.

* NotSoDifferent: Matt has a moment like this with [[spoiler: Sid]] of all people.

-->'''Alexandra''': You don't know, do you? Dad...Mom was cheating on you!

* TakenOffLifeSupport: After the boating accident that left Matt's wife in a coma, her will dictates that she be taken off life support and the film explores his struggle to do so. [[Spoiler:He does so and she dies]].

* YourCheatingHeart: Elizabeth was cheating on her husband when she had her accident with Brian Speer, who is married himself. She seems to have had no remorse for what she was doing and wanted Brian to leave his wife to be with her, just as she intended to divorce Matt for the same purpose; however, Brian thought of their affair as nothing more than a fling, and makes it clear he had no interest in leaving his wife.

* TroublingUnchildhoodBehavior: Scottie's friend who throws parties where she shows off her father's porn stash.

* Freudian Excuse: The reason why Alex drinks, parties AMD hates her mother so much is because [[spoiler: she caught her mother having an affair]].

* BittersweetEnding

''The Descendants'' is a 2011 dramedy film, directed by Creator/AlexanderPayne and based on a novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars Creator/GeorgeClooney as a Hawaii based lawyer. When his wife is in a boating accident and is left in a coma, he has to care for his daughters on his own, despite knowing little about them, while fighting a breakdown when he's told his wife's living will demands she be taken off life support. When one of his daughters reveals that his wife was cheating on him, he begins a journey with his daughters (and one of his daughter's 'friends') to find the man, partially to confront him and partially to tell him he should come say goodbye before she dies.

* WhamLine: During a discussion with her dad about why she hates her mother even on her deathbed and why she refuses to make amends witty her, Alexandra drops this to her dad.

The film is Alexander Payne's first film since 2004's ''Film/{{Sideways}}'' and has been extremely well received by critics, with particular praise given to Clooney's performance and the Oscar-winning screenplay (co-written by [[Series/{{Community}} Jim Rash]], [[HiddenDepths who knew?]]).

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: It won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 84th Academy Awards. Much like Alexander Payne's [[Film/{{Sideways}} last film]].

* MsFanservice: Alexandra spends most of the movie in bikinis, midriff tops and short shorts. Not to mention being played by Creator/ShaileneWoodley.

The film is Alexander Payne's first film since 2004's ''{{Sideways}}'' and has been extremely well received by critics, with particular praise given to Clooney's performance and the Oscar-winning screenplay (co-written by [[Series/{{Community}} Jim Rash]], [[HiddenDepths who knew?]]).

* UsefulNotes/AcademyAward: It won Best Adapted Screenplay at the 84th Academy Awards. Much like Alexander Payne's [[{{Sideways}} last film]].

* BrokenPedestal: Alex had hers broken when she caught her mother with Matt. She confronted Elizabeth about it, and she then tried to deny it.

* HiddenDepths: Alex comes off as a typical bratty, rebellious daughter for the first half-hour, with little care to her mother's plight. Then we learn it's because she caught her mother sleeping with another man and was disgusted at how her mother threw the family away while denying the whole thing. Sid may be a deadbeat, but he's spot on about Elizabeth's father being a jerk, and seems to sober up as the film goes on.

* BrattyTeenageDaughter: Alex, though the reasons for it are more complex and nuanced than in most examples of the trope.
* BrutalHonesty: [[spoiler: Matt asks Brian if he's ever been in Matt's bedroom during the affair with Elizabeth. When Matt says he has once, Matt tells him he should've lied. Brian then corrects himself: "Alright, twice."]]

* MsFanservice: Alexandra.

* SceneryPorn: Even the most basic shots are gorgeous to look at. It is Hawaii after all. (Subverted in the opening montage, with various shots of what living in Hawaii can look like.)

* ShoutOut: At the end the family watches ''Film/MarchOfThePenguins'' together. Making it especially poignant is that they're watching Creator/MorganFreeman discussing how Antarctica was once a tropical paradise, and slowly moved south and became covered in ice as the tectonic plates shifted. Matt and his kids live in the tropical paradise of {{Hawaii}}. Nothing lasts forever...

* EasilyForgiven: One could argue Elizabeth gets off pretty easy given that she was evidently willing to cast her husband and daughters aside and tried to seduce a married man away from ''his'' family. Although her actions and motivations are framed with an appropriately reproachful attitude, her death causes the film to treat them as in the past, and ultimately the movie ends with Matt bidding her a fond farewell. Possibly justified, since Elizabeth spends pretty much the entire movie slowly dying in an irreversible coma and most of the characters only learn of what she did and planned after this, meaning that there's not really a lot anyone can actually do about it or do to her which is worse than her current situation. The only healthy option is to come to terms with it, forgive her and move on.