The Cold, Harsh Landscape of "Nebraska" (the movie, not the state)

The stark and stoic film Nebraska sees the elderly Woody Grant insisting on making his way from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska as he looks to collect the million dollar sweepstakes prize he is convinced he has won. Shot in black and white, the movie meditates on aging, powerlessness and the kind of legacy we leave behind, specifically by one father to his son, and more generally by one generation of a nation to the next.

Bruce Dern is excellent as the father of deteriorating faculties. Will Forte, whose previous works include the hard-hitting MacGruber movie based on the SNL skit, plays his son David with subtlety and pathos as he decides to humor his distant father’s whim while taking the opportunity to spend some time with him. On the road they end up staying with extended family in Hawthorne, Neb. This family’s silence and inertia are just stifling. That is, until they catch wind of Woody’s delusional prize winnings, and they believe it too.

Director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants) is a master of capturing the innate humor of physical movement. Each movie of his that I have seen have been centered on a man living in quiet desperation, who at some point breaks out into a run, or at least an energetic walk. You really can’t get a better visual for quiet desperation than Hawthorne, Neb., in the snow, in black and white. Payne captures that feeling perfectly.

If nothing else, Woody and his wife Kate might make you thankful for your own parents, as they are a shrill and argumentative couple. But the characters don’t stay stuck in a one-note rut; each one is rounded out with continuing glimpses into their motivations and strengths. They are also surprisingly vulgar sometimes, which seems to be the modern elderly stereotype.

I'll also give Payne props for casting a very normal woman to play David's possibly ex-girlfriend, Noelle. In fact, most of the people are very normal looking, to the point where some of the minor characters are actually just people from the town of Hawthorne.

The Great Plains do not always come off well, characterized by dying small towns and populated by the aging and the adolescent. Shooting in black and white keeps any hint of fertility and life at bay. However, there is a note of hope as father and sons become closer and family draw strength from each other. Each camera angle is a work of art, and quirky humor adds to the story. Bob Odenkirk has a small but effective role as David’s older brother, Ross.

At dinner after the movie, my husband and I spent a lot of time discussing the different characters, what they were really after, what the movie was trying to say. So, while I found the movie to be bleak and somewhat depressing, I appreciated that it offered us plenty to talk about.