Nebraska ***** (2013, Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach) – Film Review

The 77-year-old Bruce Dern won the Best Actor award at Cannes as booze-addled old Woody Grant, who wrongly thinks he’s won $1million in a Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize giveaway and intends to claim it even if it means walking all the way.

His well-meaning estranged son David (Will Forte) is called in by the police who’ve picked the old guy up on the highway. David eventually reluctantly agrees to take the grizzled and irascible old-timer on a road trip from Montana to Nebraska with him to pick it up, even though he knows there’s no gold at the end of this particular rainbow. That is, except that father and son finally get to know each other a bit before it’s too late, and come to a reluctant acceptance of each other.

Director Alexander Payne’s world-weary, bitter-sweet comedy drama is a particular and special delight. Funny throughout, and always beaded-eyed (not to say bleary-eyed) on everything the duo confront along the way, the film does end on a warm note, just as you hope and expect that it would. But it’s totally honest and never sentimental and that’s really important here.

Bob Nelson’s fine screenplay (his first, at 57) gets its quiet but hugely substantial laughs through truthful observation, delivering and developing offbeat situations and offering a wide range of unique characters who he portrays honestly as well as amusingly. He actually seems to like these hardly likeable folk, so after a while we do too. At least he fully understands them and forgives them their inadequacies, shortcomings and pettinesses.

It’s a melancholic comedy of acceptance and forgiveness and finally connecting. It tackles the issue of human foibles and vanities and separation, and probes what it is that eternally keeps us apart and lonely.

Great though Dern is, the naturalistic, quirky acting’s impeccable from the whole ensemble. Forte is really good in a tricky-to-do self-effacing sort of role, June Squibb is marvellous as the cantankerous mother, Bob Odenkirk effective as the TV personality brother and Stacy Keach excellent as Dern’s greedy, oily ex-partner Ed Pegram, whom they meet along the way. Like everyone else, including the family members, Ed wants a share of the million bucks.

I think the film’s aimed at a smart young audience, though it’s all about middle-aged, and mainly old folk. It’s not a great advertisement for old age, but it’ll have to do for now.

I have to mention the black and white cinematography. It’s eye-popping. The film starts with an antique Paramount studios logo in black and white and you think you’re about to see an old movie by mistake. But, no, it’s Alexander Payne’s Nebraska. There’s a risk this is pretentious. I think it is a little. But who cares? Everyone’s allowed pretensions if there’s substance to bring it off. It allows cinematographer Phedon Papamichael to indulge himself, and us, is some amazing, haunting views of the US townscapes and countryside. They’re just like old photos. I guess that’s the point.

Alexander Payne (real name Papadopoulos), who is from Omaha, Nebraska, by the way, made the equally brilliant About Schmidt and Sideways, and that shows in this film, which could be the third one in the trilogy they started. Payne filmed Downsizing in 2017.

It was nominated for six Academy Awards, including for Best Picture, Best Director for Payne, Best Actor for Dern, Best Supporting Actress for Squibb, Best Original Screenplay for Nelson and Best Cinematography for Phedon Papamichael.

Also in the cast are Bob Odenkirk as Ross Grant, Mary Louise Wilson as Aunt Martha, Missy Doty as Noel, Rance Howard as Uncle Ray, Melinda Simonsen as the receptionist in the contest office and Terry Kotrous as Sheriff.

RIP Rance Howard (1928–2017).

Rance Howard, known for Chinatown (1974), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Nebraska (2013) and How the Grinch Stole Christmas, died on 25 November 2017, aged 89. He appeared in many of his son Ron Howard’s movies, including Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind, Splash, Cocoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Parenthood and Howard’s directorial debut, Grand Theft Auto.

Ron Howard said: ‘He stood especially tall 4 his ability to balance ambition w/great personal integrity.’

Its UK premiere is at the BFI London Film Festival on 11 October 2013 ahead of its general release on 6 December.

© Derek Winnert 2013 Movie Review

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