It should spoil no one's surprise to learn that Elizabeth (Patricia Hastie), the wife and mother in The Descendants , is destined to die at some point in the film. Her family is one of the groups of descendants to which the title of Alexander Payne's latest feature refers. Elizabeth is seen conscious only briefly before the opening credits, happily buffeted by sea spray and wind as a passenger in a power boat. Even if you haven't seen the trailer for The Descendants , there's something slightly haunting about the close-up of the contented woman as she's carried across the water. Sure enough, as the voice-over of her husband Matt King (George Clooney) tells us as the film commences, Elizabeth was ejected from the boat, struck in the head and rendered comatose. He's informed early on that there's no hope of recovery and must break the news to his daughters Alexandra (Shailene Woodley) and Scottie (Amara Miller) as well as family and friends. This is ...