Aloha is a romantic comedy-drama written and directed by Cameron Crowe released in 2015.
Brian Gilcrest (Bradley Cooper) is a military contractor sent by a billionaire, Carson Welch (Bill Murray), to Hawaii to arrange the blessing of a pedestrian gate as part of a plan to build a new space launch center nearby. Since Welch is a close collaborator with the U.S. military, he is paired up with Air Force Captain Allison Ng (Emma Stone) by General Dixon (Alec Baldwin) and Colonel "Fingers" Lacy (Danny McBride) to make sure the deal goes smoothly. In the meantime, he makes peace with his ex-girlfriend, Tracy (Rachel McAdams), who has a daughter and a son and has gotten remarried to an Air Force pilot, Woody (John Krasinski).
Tropes:
- Act of True Love: Brian sabotaging the satellite because of Allison's misgivings about the project.
- Actor Allusion:
- At one point, the theme from Stripes can be heard in the background. Bill Murray was one of the stars of Stripes.
- Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone talk comic books. Both have been in movies based on comic book franchises, Cooper as Rocket Raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) and Stone as Gwen Stacy in The Amazing Spider-Man Series.
- Alec Baldwin once again mentions "taking all the credit."
- As Himself: While he may not be well-known outside Hawaii, Dennis "Bumpy" Kanahele, whom Brian and Allison meet and deal with, is a political activist for Hawaiian sovereignty playing himself.
- Also, Ledward "Led" Kaapana and Mike Kawaa, a Hawaiian slack key guitar duo, appear at a meeting and are credited as themselves.
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Welch, who is described as a well-meaning provider of internet service in underdeveloped countries turns out to be using his satellite launch to cover the launch of his own private nuclear weapon stash in space.
- Broken Ace: Brian, a former Air Force pilot with a great interest in space, got axed from the service by budget cuts, but found what he thought was a second chance as a contractor, is now a cynical, broken man who walks with a limp.
- Casting Gag: Bradley Cooper and Rachel McAdams play exes here. They had played a couple who split up in Wedding Crashers.
- Cloud Cuckoolander: Mitch, who is obsessed with space and Hawaiian culture.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: Welch. See Bitch in Sheep's Clothing above.
- Facial Dialogue: Brian and Woody have one pretty early in the movie where Brian is able to discern full sentences just from Woody's body language. They have one again near the end of the film, but this one is subtitled to show exactly what the two of them mean with their facial expressions.
- Brian and Grace have one at the very end of the movie as she realizes that he's her biological father.
- Man Hug: Brian and Woody have a couple during their completely wordless conversation near the end.
- Manic Pixie Dream Girl: Downplayed with Allison, who tries to get the cynical lone wolf Brian to open up more and rediscover his enthusiasm about space. In spite of this, she is a highly decorated and competent Air Force pilot and takes her job seriously.
- Not So Stoic: After a fight with Tracy, Woody takes a signpost from the ground and decapitates a Santa Claus doll from their Christmas yard decorations.
- Only Known by Their Nickname: Colonel "Fingers" Lacy, so nicknamed because he's always gesturing with his fingers when he's talking.
- The Silent Bob: Woody, who is very tight-lipped and usually lets his facial expressions speak for him.
- Suddenly Shouting: General Dixon when he starts yelling at Brian.Brian: Well, I remember the good times-General Dixon: THERE WERE NO GOOD TIMES!
- Trademark Favorite Food: Peppermint tea for Allison.
- Trailers Always Lie / Trailers Always Spoil: A rather bizarre combination. The trailer actually starts off with Brian sabotaging the satellite and General Dixon chewing him out for it, which the rest of the trailer then framed to make it look like this was the incident that caused Brian's seed of doubt and subsequent necessity for redemption at the start of the movie.
- Also, the trailer's bit of Welch talking in dreamy terms about life. The trailer makes it seem like it will be part of the lesson Brian learns as part of the story, but in the actual film it's just a glib statement he gives his biographer to quote him on.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: In one scene, Fingers is caring for a baby named Don and finds it difficult to be around a kid that young with that name.
- Who's Your Daddy?: Brian turns out to be the biological father of Tracy's daughter Grace, who was conceived around the time they broke up.
- Wide-Eyed Idealist: Allison, who has a fascination with space and trusts that there is nothing sinister behind the gate deal. She's wrong.
