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1[[quoteright:237:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Alexander_Payne_5939.jpg]]
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3Alexander Payne (born February 10, 1961) is an acclaimed American filmmaker from Omaha, Nebraska.
4-----
5[[AC: Directed:]]
6[[index]]
7* ''Film/CitizenRuth'' (1996) -- A drug addict's latest pregnancy becomes a political football in the abortion debate.
8* ''Film/{{Election}}'' (1999) -- An idealistic high school teacher tries to sabotage a haughty overachiever's chances of becoming the class president.
9* ''Film/AboutSchmidt'' (2002) -- A recently retired/widowed actuary drives to his daughter's wedding. HilarityEnsues.
10* ''Film/{{Sideways}}'' (2004) -- Two former college roommates go on a road trip through Santa Barbara Wine Country before one of them gets married. The same guy has sex with a lot of women, the other...not so much.
11* ''Film/TheDescendants'' (2011) -- A Hawaiian aristocrat tries to reconnect with his daughters when his wife goes into a coma.
12* ''Film/{{Nebraska}}'' (2013) -- An elderly man has his son drive him from Montana to Nebraska so the father can claim a million-dollar prize he thinks he's won. Along the way, they meet many of the old man's friends and relatives and try to repair their strained relationship.
13* ''Film/{{Downsizing}}'' (2017) -- A social satire in which an average man thinks he would have a better life if he were to shrink.
14* ''Film/TheHoldovers'' (2023) -- A curmudgeonly teacher at a private boarding school is tasked with supervising the students who can't go home for the holidays.
15[[/index]]
16
17----
18!!His films provide examples of:
19
20%% * AuteurLicense: Gained it after ''Election'', to the point where he has final cut on every film he makes.
21%% * BittersweetEnding: His endings are this at happiest. With the exceptions of [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding About Schmidt]] and [[EarnYourHappyEnding Nebraska.]]]]
22%% * BlackComedy
23%% * ButtMonkey: [[Film/{{Election}} Jim]], [[Film/AboutSchmidt Warren]], [[Film/{{Sideways}} Miles]] and [[Film/{{Nebraska}} David and Woody]] can attest to this.
24%% * CreatorProvincialism: Alexander Payne ''is'' Omaha.
25%% * CreatorThumbprint: Existential crises and satirical depictions of American society.
26%% * CringeComedy
27%% * EagleLand: Overwhelmingly type 2.
28* GreyAndGrayMorality: His films are about the modern person, fallible but complex. Heroes are not perfect and any character that seems antagonistic still has redeeming qualities.
29* SlidingScaleofIdealismVsCynicism: His films generally lie a tad more towards the cynical end of the spectrum, however his films aren't generally mean spirited. His protagonists are still pretty likable to route for and care about.
30* TheFilmOfTheBook: ''Citizen Ruth'', ''Nebraska'', ''Downsizing'', and ''The Holdovers'' are the only films he's directed which are not adaptations of novels.
31* UncreditedRole: He was an uncredited script doctor for ''Film/MeetTheParents'' and ''Film/JurassicPark3''.
32%% * UnsympatheticComedyProtagonist: Especially his first two films.

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