Deconstructing The Descendants: How George Clooney Ennobled Old Hawaiian Trusts and Made the Rule Against Perpetuities Sexy

Abstract

The first and last sections of this essay are about a reel story. Of course I’m talking about the movie, The Descendants. It is based on a book of the same name, written by Kaui Hart Hemmings.1 The stories in the book and the film are quite similar, but not identical.2 The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards: best screenplay, best editing, best direction, best leading actor, and best movie. It won for best screenplay. If you saw the movie and stayed to watch all the credits—and I mean all the credits—you saw my name. It was the last name, on the last screen—appearing right after Dollar Rent-A-Car—but it was there.