FILM 2262: THE DESCENDANTS (2011)

TRIVIA: When Matt King describes his inherited wealth, he says, "I don't want my daughters growing up entitled and spoiled. And I agree with my father; you give your children enough money to do something but not enough to do nothing." This is based on a well-known quote from billionaire investor Warren Buffett in a 1986 Fortune magazine interview. "Setting up his heirs with a lifetime supply of food stamps just because they came out of the right womb can be harmful for them and is an antisocial act. To him the perfect amount to leave children is 'enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.'"

Alexander Payne's first film in 7 years since winning a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Sideways (2004). He then won the same Oscar for this film.

In September, 1992, Hurricane Iniki blew apart many chicken coops on Kauai that housed birds that were allegedly used for cockfighting. By the time the film went into production, there were thousands of feral chickens roaming the island. In the Kauai scenes, chickens are sometimes seen wandering through the shot. A few were wandering around the parking lot in the exterior shot of the Tahiti Nui restaurant. Sometimes the crew had to shoo chickens away before a take. Some takes were disrupted by crowing roosters.

The screenplay for this film was featured in the 2008 Blacklist; a list of the "most liked" unmade scripts of the year.

Michael Ontkean's final film before retiring from acting. He is best known for his role on Twin Peaks (1990), on which he worked with George Clooney's cousin Miguel Ferrer.

Included among the "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider.

I’m making my way through the book "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die", edited by Steven Schneider. See my blog post about my copy of the book here…

You can buy an updated version (which I will get after I’ve made my way through this edition) here…

I really hope you can come on this journey with me – if you do I’d love to know which films you’ve enjoyed the most!

Watch this here…