BIG Alexander Payne fan, you guys. His last two films have been Sideways and The Descendants, (he's directed About Schmidt and Election, as well) both films that break the mold of what American indie dramedies are and can be. Not that there's anything necessarily wrong with an indie movie, but the trend towards undying quirk and cuteness is an obnoxious one, and the bulk of indie "dramedy" films are coalescing into one black hole-like mass from which there is no escape, only utter annihilation. Payne's films exist alongside your traditional indie flick (Think: Juno or Little Miss Sunshine) but tend to feature less on the cutesy quick-witted dialogue and quirky "uniqueness" with stock melancholy and more on the average, everyday doldrums of life. It's a fine distinction, but it is certainly a distinction.
Enter: Nebraska, a film that's very much in the same vein as Payne's last two, but also very different in its own right. Here we meet a family, which moved from Nebraska to Montana years before, and one that's struggling through the same malaise as the entire region. The patriarch, Woody Grant, is falling into senility and alcoholism and Woody's wife and children (June Squibb, Will Forte and Bob Odenkirk) are struggling to keep up, at turns treating Woody like a child and trying to help where they can. So when Woody is determined to claim his publisher's sweepstakes million-dollar prize by any means necessary, even if it requires walking from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska, it falls to his son David to help his ailing father.
The Good: Bruce Dern's performance is, in a word, remarkable. Every fiber of his being goes into creating this otherwise forgettable elderly resident of the plains, and the body language, shuffling gait, mannerisms and cantankerous gruffness overlying a sweet sincerity employed in imbibing Woody with a pitiable, but recognizable charm and humanity is the performance of a lifetime. Will Forte is inspired casting, as he remains charming and personable behind sad eyes and a defeated demeanor. June Squibb is tremendous as the frumpy, foul-mouthed family matriarch and serves as the film's moral center. But the real star here is the setting and the very real and fully-formed residents therein. As Woody reunites with family and begins bragging about his "prize" in his hometown he becomes a minor celebrity and source of excitement, and as someone who grew up in rural northwest Ohio in a place not so different than Nebraska, the depiction of the small, fading town felt uncomfortably spot-on. The decision to shoot the film in black and white was an inspired one, as it really makes the film feel even smaller and more intimate than it already would, and really emphasizes the cold, stark beauty of the terrain. The sweeping shots of the plains would have been beautiful in color as well, no doubt, but the decision to do the film in black and white makes everything feel smaller and that does the story justice.
The Bad: there's not a lot, and I'm generally in favor of Payne's treatment of the characters, although there was quite a bit written at the time of this film's release about his mockery of his subjects. At times things can get a little silly, but I'm not sure that it ever rises to the level of legitimate shortcoming of the film. My main criticism is that the film and the characters feel a little underdeveloped. We're dropped into these people's lives and other than a few moments, we don't necessarily get to know them as much as we'd like. Again, that's a minor criticism, but it made me feel detached from the goings-on.
In all, I think it's become a cliche to think of everyone from Indiana to Colorado and in-between as wholesome, hard-working, god-fearing folks who just want to live in peace and quiet. I feel that does a disservice to millions of individuals, and obviously, so does Nebraska native Alexander Payne, who paints a picture of these people who most of the "enlightened" internet commenter class would consider to be bumpkins as morally complex and highly flawed people in their own right. For that alone, this is a noteworthy work, and when you throw in a performance like the one Bruce Dern turns in here? You've got a great piece of Americana.
8/10.
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