Nebraska

Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacey Keach
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Drama
2013

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A man (Will Forte) reluctantly agrees to drive his confused father (Bruce Dern) from Montana to Nebraska, to claim a $1 million prize he mistakenly believes he's won.

Review:

Tim: I would not claim to be an Alexander Payne fan. I didn't care for Election or About Schmidt, although I did enjoy Sideways and The Descendants. He's a little too hit-or-miss for me. Knowing that about the director, I entered Nebraska with some trepidation. It certainly looked good and got good critical reviews, but Payne has disappointed me before. I am happy to report that it isn't the case here. Nebraska isn't just a very solid movie, it's arguably the best movie Payne has yet made (The Descendants would be the other potential title holder).

I really enjoyed this movie. I loved that it was filmed in black and white. That can sometimes be seen as a bit gimmicky, but it absolutely worked in this instance. It gave the entire film this stark, clear quality. It would not have been nearly as good in color, which sounds a little odd to say. Regardless, the black and white quality adds greatly to the overall film.

The characters all felt very real to me. That's something Payne clearly goes for, but in many of his movies, it's like he is trying TOO hard to convey how real and believable his characters are. It almost has the opposite of the intended effect. Here, he lets his actors take the roles and just deliver solid performances all around. I very quickly connected with the characters and was at least fairly interested in where they were going. It helps that Payne assembled an unlikely cast, yet the right one for this film.

Bruce Dern gets some much-deserved late career acclaim for this role. For a guy who is actually pretty fit, it's amazing to see his stripped-down, unglamorous turn as this cantankerous, flawed, tired and confused old man. He delivers a very strong performance, and I was glad to see him nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor. I agree he shouldn't have won, but the nomination is impressive regardless. June Squibb deserves credit for her hilarious supporting role. I actually wish she had a little more screen time, because she's so funny. One of the highlights of the film (likely the best scene in the entire movie) is the one that takes place in the cemetery. You have Dern looking confused and tired in the background, and this hilarious conversation between Squibb and Will Forte. Forte plays the straight man, which lets Squibb utter these hilarious lines. Her deliver is perfect and it made me laugh out loud. I was glad she was nominated.

I have to say that I enjoyed Will Forte in this movie. I normally don't, as it feels like he tries too hard to be funny and never seems that funny no matter how hard he tries. Here, he's able to focus just on his performance and can let the others in the cast be funny. I wouldn't say he delivers a truly great performance, but it was far better than even my loftiest expectations of him. I wouldn't say the performance changed my mind about him, but I won't immediately groan the next time I see he's cast in a film. He delivers a likeable performance that felt authentic to me. I loved seeing Bob Odenkirk here. He did terrific work on "Breaking Bad" and it's nice to see him get an chance to showcase his skills in a film. He's not a conventional actor, but he was perfect in this role. The cast as a whole is very impressive.

Payne always tells stories about ordinary people. He continues that trend here. I loved the way he managed to wring so much meaning out of a truly meaningless trip. This fool's errand allows the characters to go on this life-changing (in very subtle ways) adventure that is fraught with humor, eccentric characters, and awkward situations. The story told here is so much better than in About Schmidt, because we can actually care about and relate to the characters.

While I really liked the film, it does suffer from some usual Payne criticisms. I never really feel any emotional connection with Payne's characters. He tries to make them feel too flawed, too ordinary, and they end up coming across a little off-putting. That happens less here than maybe any of his other films (The Descendants would be the other exception), but I still never felt truly emotionally invested in the characters. Payne always adds these zany, odd situations. Some of them work, some of them really don't. For example, the scene where Forte and Dern get "jumped" by their cousins felt a little too unrealistic for me. That might work in another film, but when Payne is so focused on telling these down-to-earth, believable stories about realistic people, things like that just seem further out of place. The movie was funny, but not quite as funny as it imagined itself to be.

While I thoroughly enjoyed Nebraska, I think it was just a bit overrated. I'd never consider it one of the Top 10 movies of 2013, so I was a bit surprised when it received an Academy Award Best Picture nomination. Cinematography, Original Screenplay, and even Directing felt deserved. Not sure about Best Picture. Even still, this movie is exceptionally made and well worth your time. It made me feel a slight twinge at excitement to see what Payne will do next.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7.5



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: The Descendents, Sideways