Nebraska

Rating

Director
Alexander Payne
Screenplay
Bob Nelson
Length
115 min.
Starring
Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach
MPAA Rating
Rated R for some language

Review
Few filmmakers can explore Americana with more sense and wit than Alexander Payne. In his broad repertoire of films, Payne looks for universal truths while exaggerating the more unusual qualities of his subjects. Nebraska brings us into the life of an aging alcoholic as he travels to Lincoln to claim a million-dollar prize that no one in his family believes he’s actually won.

Bruce Dern understands cantankerous. One look at his life and career can showcase just how at home he is with such charcters. With Woody Grant, Dern elevates the cliché to a height of humanity few of his contemporaries could have managed without making it all about themselves. I love Christopher Plummer, but what he would have done with Woody is a whole other style than Dern and that’s for the better. Dern doesn’t overplay sentimentality, but he does exemplify the frustration, determination and desperation of an aging man hoping for something new.

Opting to drive his frequently-escaping father to Lincoln lest he walk or hitchhike his way there, actor Will Forte gives his son David a noteworthy reflection of his father. Trapped in a dead-end job while dealing with contentious parents and a lackluster romantic entanglement, David needs time away and hitting the road with his father and learning more about him than he had imagined gives him a new perspective on life that drives him to wanting to be a better person not only for his father, but for himself. Forte’s career on Saturday Night Live may have given people the wrong impression of him. That show relies heavily on lunacy and excessiveness to sell its jokes. Here Forte subdues that style and creates a genuine, relatable schlub whose disappointment with life reflects our own disillusionments.

The supporting cast is strong, including Stacy Keach as a longtime rival of Woody’s whose own success gives him a feeling of superiority even though the richness of his life is clearly mundane by comparison. Bob Odenkirk as Woody’s other son Ross is humorous at times and honestly forthright in spite of his more extroverted personality. Yet, it’s June Squibb as Woody’s nitpicky, selfish wife Kate who steals the most scenes. Given the most outrageous one-liners, Squibb delivers them with bite, producing laughs that are more muted in other scenes of the film. Squibb may be the dominant one in their relationship, but there’s a forthright emotional connection that beats beneath the surface of her sarcastic exterior.

Payne has spent his career bringing unusual and seemingly inauthentic character types to the big screen, employing droll humor and didactic wit to relate stories that superficially seem outside the normative personalities of typical American families. However, beneath these light caricatures, beat the truthful ideas of family, faith and redemption at the hands of family interactions. His characters frequently begin apart and eventually come together against odds that would put any familial loyalty to the test. With few exceptions, Payne’s honest portrayal of universal family values are instructive to those of us hoping to find less animosity and more unanimity in our own personal relationships.

With the help of Bob Nelson, Payne directs someone else’s script for the first time, but you would hardly notice. Nelson’s script shares common parallels with those Payne has written himself and it’s clear that they share similar ideas at how to express and explore the beauty in the banality of life. They want their audience to find a new perspective even when things look dim or hopeless. There’s strength in the character and diversity of family and friends, and once we move past the superficial depictions we typically see of these archteypes, we can begin to find common ground and a superb understanding of humanity without preconceived notions and expectations.

Nebraska is an exemplary piece in Payne’s oeuvre and it’s clear from his past success that the universality of his characters and situations, even when slightly tweaked towards outrageousness, speak to a wide swath of the American public. It may be difficult to relate to his characters if you’ve never had or appreciated your family, but for those who have his films speak volumes. That the reults are honest, if somewhat exaggerated, is what makes him one of the most distinct and interesting voices working in cinema today.
Review Written
February 17, 2014