Alexander Payne’s (The Descendants, About Schmidt) Nebraska is a very likable movie that has someone convinced the critics that it is a fantastic movie worthy of Best Picture discussion. I can see how a case could be made for the acting nominations (Best Actor – Bruce Dern & Best Supporting Actress June Squibb), much more so than I can the case for Best Picture or Best Director. While 2013 was not a great movie year, there were quite a few very, very good movies To me, Nebraska was a notch below these higher-tiered movies, And, to me, it didn’t feel like directing this movie was as challenging to produce as some of the better movies that did not have a nomination for Best Director So while the storytelling was great, and this was a delightful film to watch, the fact that is in the talk for best movie of the year is a little absurd. Of the five total Oscars (Cinematography was the fifth category) it received, I see it coming home empty on the big night.
As stated, the storytelling is the best part of the movie. It’s a great, simple story that anyone can follow without feeling lost. This allows you to turn off your brain and just enjoy the connection between the characters and laugh at the banter that flows effortlessly throughout the film’s one hour and 50 minutes Dern (Coming Home, The Great Gatsby) earned his second Best Actor Oscar nomination as Woody, an elderly, boozing man on the verge of full dementia while trying to harness a lifetime of disappointment before he drifts away from this world mentally and physically. A couple of quick points about Dern. The first is that I cannot recall ever recognizing him in another film I have yet to see the other two movies he has been nominated for, and his appearances in the movies I’ve seen have gone unnoticed. So I’m uncertain if this performance was awesome as everyone made it out to be or if this character was just an extension of who this guy is in real life I’m willing to give the 77-year-old man with a 55-year-long career the benefit of the doubt and say his nomination was deserved. I had him on my list of five going into this movie, and unless he stunk up the joint, I would not take him off. The second point I want to make is that I’m not even sure Dern was the lead actor in this movie Sure, the movie revolves around him, but I think his son David (Will Forte – television’s 30 Rock and Saturday Night Live) had more screen time and dialogue than his father did Forte was a long shot at best for a Best Supporting Actor nomination, but I thought he was very good as the eccentric Woody’s more concrete and emotionally restrained youngest son.
The movie’s premise revolves around Woody getting a form letter from a company like Publishers Clearing House that says he is the winner of a million-dollar sweepstakes prize and that all that is required of him is to claim his prize. But the distrusting Woody insists that a phone call will not work He wants to pick up his winnings in person, which are in Lincoln, Nebraska, some 900 miles from his small town of Billings, Montana Woody can no longer drive. His body is completely failing him. He walks with a heavy limp and looks like he is about to get knocked over at any time with even the tiniest wind gust. Still, he insists on getting to Nebraska. He tries and fails on multiple occasions to make the 900-mile trek by foot only to be reeled back by David, his other son Ross (Bob Odenkirk who plays Sal on television’s Breaking Bad), and his scene-stealing wife Kate (Squibb – Atlas Shrugged: Part 1, About Schmidt). Finally, when he realizes his father is not going to stop in his quest of getting to Lincoln, David offers to make a road trip out of it and drive him there himself so that he can spend time with his increasing senile father as much as he does to quell his father and prove the notice he received in the mail was nothing more than a scam.
Like most of Payne’s movies, Nebraska takes a few twists along the way, including a weekend stay in Hawthorne, Nebraska, the town where Woody and Kate grew up Woody still has family and friends there David has not been to the town since he was a teenager Through conversations with various people in the city, David learns more about his father in two short days than he did in the first 40 years of his life Woody is a man of view words This theme repeated itself with many of the movie’s characters (especially the men) At first, Woody’s arrival is greeted with a “Hey; it’s good to see you again” type of feel But when it is discovered that Woody has one million dollars to his name (many believe he has a winning lottery ticket on him), many seem characters attempt schemes to swindle a chunk of the winnings from him Woody’s tragic flaw is that he cannot lie and believes others say He has a soft heart and this has allowed him to be taken advantage of his entire life In addition to Woody’s voice of reason, David often serves as his father’s voice, making the decisions for both of them while constantly putting his emotions second.
The movie works. The story works. The end works. Hawthorne’s characters work. Ultimately, the story is more about a delusional man traveling 700 miles to collect a prize to which we are not sure he even truly believes he is entitled. It’s about self-discovery. It’s about coming to terms with a life that wasn’t lived to its full potential. It’s about owning up to your faults that have negatively impacted others. It’s about family. It’s about a lot of different things all at once. Nothing ever feels forced down your throat, and the characters seem genuine. The problem for me was that I was never emotionally invested in any of these characters. I sympathized a bit with Woody, but not much as I did many of the other lead characters in my ten favorite films of the year. Though far from a comedy, there were many opportunities to laugh. I found the humor to be very, very good. I especially enjoyed Woody’s brunt answers to David’s long thought-out questions and Kate’s quick one-liners.
Plot 9/10
Character Development 9/10
Character Chemistry 9.5/10
Acting 10/10
Screenplay 8/10
Directing 8/10
Cinematography 10/10
Sound 10/10
Hook and Reel 8.5/10
Universal Relevance 9.5/10
91.5%
Movies You Might Like If You Liked This Movie
- A Walk in the Woods
- Little Miss Sunshine
- The Descendants
- About Schmidt
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty