MovieChat Forums > The Descendants (2011) Discussion > would have been perfect if they cut this...

would have been perfect if they cut this scene

posted 12 years ago by claudja777
18 replies | jump to latest

actually 2
1)the first one with the "fight" of scotty and her friend (unnecessary and too emblematic of "the girl going through problems cause her mum is sick"..we already have alexandra for that..having two girls behaving bad it's just too much,plus scotty seems completely adorable!)
2)the wife of matthew lillard going to the hospital and making that scene.what is that supposed to add to the story?that he finally told her?ok then it would have been enough to see her maybe walking the hospital and nodding them,or maybe them entering and seeing her leaving,but that scene seemed so pathetic or maybe just not well acted ...it seemed also darkly funny to me.a.How many time do we have to say that cheating is wrong and brian was a *beep* man?You can't top a scene wehre he admitted that elizabeth wanted to leave clooney but he said her he had no intention to leave his wife.

[–] cultfilmfreaksdotcom 12 years ago

The first scene I can see being cut. Not the other one. Clooney's reaction to her outburst was perfect.

And My Movie Reviews www.cultfilmfreaks.com

[–] claudja777 12 years ago

that s the problem.sometimes this very poignant movie seemed to much as a clooney vehicle.sorry but the second scene made no sense to me.
If lillard said he did indeed loved elizabeth and she cried to clooney well that would have made sense,but like that?
and NOONE wonder WHY he did told her who they were?

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] claudja777 12 years ago

he could never make a big deal out of it cause scottie's mum is diying and she is defienetely justified.
of course he doesn t blow it out of proportion, who expect him or anyone doin it?the kid's mum is dying !if she peed in her class he wouldn t blow it out of proportion! if HE DID it blow out i would have uderstand that scene,cause it would have shown us that he doesn t know how to deal with his child or that he doesn t understand how bad the situation is or that he he is in denial of his souse actual situation

[–] paul-987 11 years ago

Remember that the end of the first scene was the introduction to the land deal (the mother comments to Clooney as he's leaving that she hopes he doesn't sell the land to developers) -- until then, the thing about the land hasn't been mentioned and Clooney proceeds to go off into a voiceover about it. They probably could have easily cut that scene, but then they'd lose the tie-in to introduce the land deal subplot.

[–] jviala 11 years ago

I think the first scene was also to show that many native Hawaiians didn't want another piece of the islands sold to some big developer to create yet another resort for rich people.

[–] gearhart 11 years ago

I liked the scene with Julie in the hospital room. I think her anger at Elizabeth was the beginning of a change in Matt's feelings toward his wife. IMHO, listening to Julie rail at a dying woman caused Matt to feel some sympathy for his wife, not just because she was dying but because he realized she'd been used by Brian.

I assume Elizabeth didn't know that Brian was married, so there she was, being made a fool of and in love with a married man who was leading her on.

So when Julie started yelling at Elizabeth, Matt wanted to defend his wife. He knew he hadn't worked hard enough at his marriage and he had started to understand why Elizabeth strayed. After all, Elizabeth was in love -- Brian was just playing, and Brian's wife knew he was a player yet stayed with him.

It's like when other people complain about our family members -- we can do it, but we don't like it when outsiders do it.

I missed the beginning of the movie -- maybe there's something there that will change my opinion, but I thought the scene was the beginning of Matt forgiving Elizabeth.

[–] claudja777 11 years ago

Ok let me rephrase it with an example

in goodfellas lorraine bracco finds out ray liotta is cheating
then what she does? she goes at his mistress appartment ,right?what is she searching?for a damn confrontation.

then what happens, we instantly are on the mistress side,she is scared, covered her ears and stands on the bad.then the wife rings everyone and starts saying she a slut.maybe someone will open her the door?

it s like what hitchcock sayd :if a thief is trying to open the door, and the we cut the scene to the house owners parking and arriving home,we instantly say "go go fast, go away,they re almost there!"
even if he is the friggin "bad one"

when brian's wife goes there,there is nothing to wait.only thing that could have changed things is that elizabeth suddenly wakes up !

WHAT IF brian's wife goes to the hospital, maybe expecting she works there,or she is there I odn t know...for surgery?something like that,and THEN finds out she is in a coma! that changes things.That will put things on a blast.

[–] HarlowMGM 11 years ago

Scene one is important because it establishes Scotty has been having problems herself with her mother's accident (and possibly being raised by a couple clearly in a troubled marriage).

Scene two is important because it establishes Elizabeth indeed was only a fling to the other man, it gives us some resolution about the other couple's marriage and lets us know the wife has been told.

[–] Jonny_B_Lately 11 years ago

Perhaps your first reference could be cut, but I liked the fact that we are introduced to Alexandria in a drunken state and then are allowed to discover that is not the way she "really" is.

Your second reference is completely wrong in my opinion. Both Matt King and the audience need to be reminded that the infidelities of Ms. King affect far more people that Matt King and his two daughters. I also liked that it gave Judy Greer an opportunity to do some actual drama for a change.

It isn't about how many times one can say what happened was wrong. It's about how the revelation affected the family and eventually people outside the family. This is done by revealing an every wider circle of people affected.

Watta ya lookn here for?

[–] claudja777 11 years ago

judy greer seemed pretty shocked to me once in the beach house . it was pretty clear she would have been shocked and hurted.

[–] thetheeyecreature 11 years ago

Another thing that would have helped would be if they'd made up their minds whether they wanted to use a voiceover narration or not. There's a VO at the beginning of the movie, in which Clooney's character speaks to the audience about Hawaii and his viewpoint. But then you never hear it again.

Now, you can make a good movie with or without a voiceover. But, if you use one, you have to use it consistently, because it changes the kind of storytelling you're using. You can't open with a voiceover and then forget about it.

This is an elementary, beginner's screenplay error. Ridiculous that it was left that way.

"The truth 24 times a second."

[–] davedave11 10 years ago

dumbest comment on IMDB

[–] Nanrad 10 years ago

1. We do we have Alex for--her function I mean. Scotty and Alex's behavior problems are for two different reasons. Alex was rebelling for the sake of rebelling, but she did have a falling out with her mother a few months prior. Despite this, her behavior issues didn't stem from her mother's health issues--Scotty's was. Whether or not a child is originally problematic, I think the movie is showing how tragedy can change a child through the ways they act out. It's not always expressing emotions verbally. I didn't see it as too much because, despite Alex's rebellious nature, she wasn't all that terrible as the movie progressed because she understood the seriousness of the situation. It was time to stop defying her father and be responsible and she stepped up.

2. As another poster said, this scene was about how the actions of Mrs. King affected more than her family. We can say cheating is wrong a thousand times, but why is it wrong? Answer: one of the reasons, biggest one at that, is that is hurts people. We saw Matt's reaction upon finding out and now we see Brian's wife reaction. Both are devastated and trying to find ways to deal and neither can truly have closure. Julie thought her life was great, but it turned out that her husband had been cheating on her. Her forgiveness is not really about forgiveness, it's about trying to move on, but anger and confusion getting ahold of her. It's mimics Matt's scene, but I don't think he's forgiven his wife; I think Matt believes his wife had enough anger directed at her so he intervened.

Her cheating didn't just hurt Matt, it hurt Alex too and potentially Scotty if she ever found out, which is one of the reason Matt wanted his youngest to be shielded. He didn't even tell her father who thought his daughter was the perfect angel.

"And even with Will dead, the love triangle is not over."

[–] claudja777 10 years ago

2)But she already FOUND OUT at the beach house.
If we had clooney, scotty and alex at the beach house to talk with the lover and then the wife was like outside or didn't hear anything i could get the hospital scene. But put like this, it was redundant
we all already know greer knows it. she already screamed and shout and everything
Then we see her again at the hospital?what for? what was the point of her wanting to see the wife and then crying?FILLER SCENE!
we have this completely not important charachter all of a sudden becoming important.I expect that every scene bring something to game
if she would have said something like a relevation when at the hospital i could have understood it

[–] Nanrad 10 years ago

That's not what a filler scene is.

You have the woman who was cheated on trying to work through it, but can't and we see Matt understanding that all of this anger is overkill for a person who is about to die. It serves two purposes. Perhaps it wasn't executed well, but it's not a filler scene.

"And even with Will dead, the love triangle is not over."

[–] claudja777 10 years ago

i didn't feel the love triangle vibe much
for me the lover of the wife was already over her since a lot. he was distraught , sure, but didn t quite care as a boyfriend as much as a human being

I just think it was a bit useless.I really didn t like it and there was not adding to me. Let me rephrase it: would you have miss this scene if they erase it?

[–] Nanrad 10 years ago

Matt thought it was a love triangle, the boyfriend didn't care for her like the wife thought he did. Matt realized it wasn't a love triangle and that his wife got in over her head for a guy who just was in it for the sex.

"And even with Will dead, the love triangle is not over."