Father-son road trip takes turn both funny and sad
“Nebraska,” is the sixth film directed by Alexander Payne (“Sideways,” “The Descendants”), his first that he did not have a hand in writing, and the first film since his debut, “Citizen Ruth,” that is not based on a novel. First time feature screenwriter Bob Nelson wrote this droll comedy set in the Midwest. Woody Grant (Bruce Dern), a lifelong drunk in Montana falling into senility, gets a scam sweepstakes letter saying he has won a million dollars and that he must pick up his winnings in Lincoln, Nebraska. His ornery, acid-tongued wife Kate (June Squibb) will not even entertain the idea of taking him, so he just starts walking on foot along the highway, determined to get there. When the cops bring him into the station, his son David (Will Forte) comes to pick him up. When his father will not give up the idea of traveling to Nebraska, even after repeatedly telling him the sweepstakes are a total scam, he agrees to take Woody on the trip. He views it as a chance to have some father-son time with the aging man. After Woody has a late night fall in a hotel room, David makes a stop in Woody’s childhood town of Hawthorne where many of his brothers and other relatives still live. David’s brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk) come on the bus to join the family and tensions arise in the usually docile town, especially when Woody’s family and his old business partner Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach) want a cut of his alleged cash prize money.
What a wonderful film this is. Every aspect of the film is top-notch and spot-on. Firstly, the writing is very funny and sharp — a comedy where one chokes on the laughs. All of the characters are flawed, but there is great humanity and decency in them. Some of the funniest scenes in the film are simple static shots of the family talking with each other in front of the television set. Another reason to cherish the film is the acting. Character actor Bruce Dern, who received the second Oscar nomination of his career for his lead role, is perfection because he never seems to be acting. The crotchety old man, with his wispy, frazzled white hair, ramshackle wardrobe and hobbling gait goes about his business as he pleases, just like he has his whole life. He is a seemingly selfish man whose hidden kindness is revealed slowly throughout the film.
Kate loves her husband, but the casual observer would never know that. She speaks her mind at every moment and rarely has anything nice or constructive to say about anyone. She doesn’t just make rude comments about the townsfolk and her own family, she blurts them out as if there is no reason to hold back. In one particularly memorable scene in a graveyard, she looks down at the headstones for each of Woody’s relatives and goes through a laundry list of their failings, airing her opinions out in the open air.
The film was shot in black and white by cinematographer Phedon Papamichael, who received an Oscar nomination, and it perfectly matches the dry humor and melancholy surrounding the film. The endless plains and drab sky are captured better with a lack of color. Like the 3-D in “Gravity,” one forgets the black and white in “Nebraska.” Hopefully that appropriate artistic choice will not keep anyone away.
Alexander Payne, who also received an Oscar nomination for Best Director, keeps a perfect balance between comedy and drama, cynical humor and warmth. “Nebraska” is the funniest film of last year, but there is pain and sadness underneath the laughs. Payne, Nelson, the actors and everyone else involved in the film capture the Midwest and its people beautifully in one of the best films of 2013.