Review of Nebraska (2013) by William C — 07 Mar 2014

I must confess to not being a "fan" of director Alexander Payne as I've actually only seen one other film that he has made... Which was Election. However, I was excited to see Nebraska once I saw the trailer.

Actor Bruce Dern is one of those guys that could be seen a ton in movies that were made in the late 60's through the early 80's, but he really does not get much to chew on these days. But here he gets a movie that is built around him and we can see he can still deliver the goods.

At first his character Woody just seems like a cantankerous old man that wants to get to his prize and will do anything to get it. It does not matter to him that his wife and children worry about his well being, or that he can no longer even drive at this stage of his life. He is fine with walking hundreds of miles to realize his dream of being rich. But you come to understand that they do care about one another despite how crass their behavior toward each other might be at times. This is a story about a father and a son who love each other despite the fact that they have a tough time showing it. You might ask yourself if Woody even cares for his family at all! But, we must remember that Woody comes from a generation where men were not always able to express their feelings very easily.

The black and white photography is appropriate for this tale given that the film is not just about a father and a son, but it's also showing us the end of old mid west where beautiful countryside was plenty, and people still could be taken at their word. The film very much recalls such classics as "Hud" and "The Last Picture Show" but perhaps less bleak than those films. We do get to feel some warmth before this mostly unsentimental movie ends, and that's fine with me because we have enough bleakness in the world already.