Nebraska (B+ or 3.5/4 stars)
Omaha-born director Alexander Payne (About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants) takes us on a poignant, amusing, black-&-white photographed road trip that brings an estranged father & son together, as they try to get on with their disappointing lives and the harsh reality that the American Dream is nearly unattainable (these days). The story begins in In Billings, Montana, where the cantankerous, confused, alcoholic, and generally-ill Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), a man of few words, can't be talked out of believing he won $1,000,000 in a publishing house sweepstakes. His sensitive youngest son David (Will Forte), married ambitious TV broadcaster older son Ross (Bob Odenkirk), & feisty, outspoken wife Kate (June Squibb), can't seem to convince him that he likely hasn't won a dime.
Woody believes he's won because "it (the paper) said so" & refuses to trust the mail to collect; therefore, he sets off - BY FOOT - to fetch his prize down in Lincoln, Nebraska. David simply can't allow his troubled father to go on this foolish journey alone, so he calls in sick to work & drives him there. They stop at dad's dusty Nebraska hometown of Hawthorne, where he reunites with his similarly ailing/depressed/confused brother. He meets up with the nephews, cousins, in-laws, etc.. And he even happens upon his former auto shop partner that he sold-out to at a bargain price, Ed Pegram (a humorously gasbaggy Stacy Keach).
A former Korean veteran, Woody is still secretly traumatized from the war, & is too 'out of it' to see that his folks/old friends/foes are only flocking to him now like vultures because they got wind that Woody's a supposed millionaire. And the more crass locals really descend on him with greed in their eyes. He gets treated as a celeb in Hawthorne by those who worship $$. This all becomes too much for David & he bonds with his father more than he ever has. David forgives him for all the long years of neglect after witnessing what he had to endure in his past from the people he grew up with.
You know, I really enjoyed 'Nebraska'. If Payne's Sideways is an A movie for me, and his The Descendants was a C, well, then I suppose I'd give this movie a B or B+, right smack in the middle. I liked the stark b-&-w cinematography. I find America's Midwest to be strangely fascinating. Some people have criticized Payne for making fun of Midwesterners in this plot {with deadpan humor}. But I don't see that. Firstly, Payne is FROM Nebraska. And secondly, there are people I know that live 25 minutes from me who are just like the folks in this movie ... and I'm from Long Island {haha}.
Payne populates his cast with a litany of oddball characters (like Woody's oafish nephews). But Bruce Dern leads the way; giving a winning performance as Woody. Sure, he's cranky. But as in all good movies, shadings of his character emerge as the proceedings unfold which make us sympathize with him. Will Forte is quietly effective as David. June Squibb is a riot as Woody's easily agitated, but clear-headed wife, Kate. In one of the funnier scenes, Kate spouts caustic, damning information about their dearly departed relatives in a barren cemetery. And in a small role, Angela McEwan made me 'aww' as Woody's kind-hearted former flame.
Thematically speaking, 'Nebraska' provides a splice-of-life look at the economically-depressed Midwest. But most of all, the film says a lot about fathers & sons. David is a big-hearted young man who has great empathy for his dad; and he slowly realizes that the reason why Woody is so hell bent on the idea that he's won this $$ is because he feels he can then pass something of value onto his two sons. That's a very sweet sentiment in a film that's predominantly bittersweet. David is the caregiver who does what he can for Woody. And the way in which he ensures that his dad has the last word (against his vulturous family) is wonderfully executed.
Woody believes he's won because "it (the paper) said so" & refuses to trust the mail to collect; therefore, he sets off - BY FOOT - to fetch his prize down in Lincoln, Nebraska. David simply can't allow his troubled father to go on this foolish journey alone, so he calls in sick to work & drives him there. They stop at dad's dusty Nebraska hometown of Hawthorne, where he reunites with his similarly ailing/depressed/confused brother. He meets up with the nephews, cousins, in-laws, etc.. And he even happens upon his former auto shop partner that he sold-out to at a bargain price, Ed Pegram (a humorously gasbaggy Stacy Keach).
A former Korean veteran, Woody is still secretly traumatized from the war, & is too 'out of it' to see that his folks/old friends/foes are only flocking to him now like vultures because they got wind that Woody's a supposed millionaire. And the more crass locals really descend on him with greed in their eyes. He gets treated as a celeb in Hawthorne by those who worship $$. This all becomes too much for David & he bonds with his father more than he ever has. David forgives him for all the long years of neglect after witnessing what he had to endure in his past from the people he grew up with.
You know, I really enjoyed 'Nebraska'. If Payne's Sideways is an A movie for me, and his The Descendants was a C, well, then I suppose I'd give this movie a B or B+, right smack in the middle. I liked the stark b-&-w cinematography. I find America's Midwest to be strangely fascinating. Some people have criticized Payne for making fun of Midwesterners in this plot {with deadpan humor}. But I don't see that. Firstly, Payne is FROM Nebraska. And secondly, there are people I know that live 25 minutes from me who are just like the folks in this movie ... and I'm from Long Island {haha}.
Payne populates his cast with a litany of oddball characters (like Woody's oafish nephews). But Bruce Dern leads the way; giving a winning performance as Woody. Sure, he's cranky. But as in all good movies, shadings of his character emerge as the proceedings unfold which make us sympathize with him. Will Forte is quietly effective as David. June Squibb is a riot as Woody's easily agitated, but clear-headed wife, Kate. In one of the funnier scenes, Kate spouts caustic, damning information about their dearly departed relatives in a barren cemetery. And in a small role, Angela McEwan made me 'aww' as Woody's kind-hearted former flame.
Thematically speaking, 'Nebraska' provides a splice-of-life look at the economically-depressed Midwest. But most of all, the film says a lot about fathers & sons. David is a big-hearted young man who has great empathy for his dad; and he slowly realizes that the reason why Woody is so hell bent on the idea that he's won this $$ is because he feels he can then pass something of value onto his two sons. That's a very sweet sentiment in a film that's predominantly bittersweet. David is the caregiver who does what he can for Woody. And the way in which he ensures that his dad has the last word (against his vulturous family) is wonderfully executed.