Some people say that Alexander Payne tends to treat his Midwestern characters condescendingly. Whether it is Election, About Schmidt, or his latest film, Nebraska. They lament that he laughs at, and not with, the good, simple folk of the Heartland.
Speaking as a Midwesterner who grew up in a small town, I respectfully and regretfully must inform these people that they are full of shit. I apologize for the coarse language, but they don't know what they are talking about. Watching these characters on the screen was watching people from my home county, my home town, and even sometimes my own family. Are some of them venal, prone to greed and a mistaken perspective on the past? Of course. Like anyone else in this world, we aren't perfect.
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern, who deserves awards recognition for his performance) is not perfect. He's spent his life drinking far too much. He's been withholding from his sons David (Will Forte) and Ross (Bob Odenkirk), and it's clear his marriage to Kate (June Squibb) hasn't been the smoothest journey. He's on the downward slope of senility. Retired from his job as an auto mechanic, and now without a drivers license, he has little to look forward to, little left to enjoy. The one exception is his "(You could be a) Million Dollar Winner" certificate from a Publishers Clearing House type place. If only he could get to Lincoln, Nebraska and cash in that certificate, things would be better. After several failed attempts to walk to Lincoln, he is driving his family nuts. In part because his life isn't exactly going well, David decides to drive him to Lincoln, and the real journey in the movie begins.
The movie is at times poignant, at other times hilarious. The bulk of it takes place in Hawthorne, Nebraska, Woody and Kate's old hometown. While there, we meet many of their family members, plus several of the people they knew who were still around. As expected, the secret (but not the whole secret) about Woody's "fortune" gets out, and the family has to deal with the way (perceived) wealth can change how people react to you.
I enjoyed the decision by Payne to show the film in black and white. It enhances the starkness of the Nebraska prairie in winter. I also enjoyed the performances, especially Bruce Dern and June Squibb. Although some of the characters in the larger Grant family border on caricature, there's enough weight behind them that it still feels real, almost as if someone snuck a camera into a family's Sunday dinner get together, particularly as the now elderly Grant brothers, plus their sons, sit around watching the football game.
This is a great film by one of my favorite directors. I heartily recommend you go out and see it in the theater, assuming it shows up somewhere near you.
Verdict: Strong Recommendation
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