Alexander Payne has always been a filmmaker who walks to the beat of his own drum, and his sixth movie Nebraska is no different. Only Payne could find a way to follow up the Hawaii-set The Descendants with a film that is both completely different and yet hits on familiar beats of family legacy, deep-rooted secrets, and the bond between parent and child. But whereas The Descendants' paradisal locale hid uncomfortable truths, the bleak depiction of the economically-depressed Midwest belies the sweet, sturdy father/son story at Nebraska's heart.
In a curmudgeonly performance already earning Oscar raves, Bruce Dern plays Woody Grant, a close-mouthed elderly alcoholic perhaps in the early stages of dimentia. Woody's convinced by one of those junk Publisher's Clearinghouse mailers that he's won a million dollars, and is determined to make the trek from Montana to Nebraska and claim it. Even if that means walking the distance himself, which he tries repeatedly to the infuriation of his pestering wife Kate (June Squibb), who doesn't believe he's won a darn thing. Neither do his sons, aimless retail salesman Dave (Will Forte) and small-town news broadcaster Ross (Bob Odenkirk) who fear that their old man has finally lost it. It's clear from the beginning that Woody isn't someone given to big expressions of emotion, and the distance between he and his sons has impaired what little relationship they have. In an effort to mend it, Dave decides to indulge his father's millionaire fantasy and drive him to Nebraska himself.
Payne has always been partial to the simplicity of the road trip movie, but Nebraska bears little resemblance to his wine-tasting buddy comedy, Sideways, or coming-of-old age film About Schmidt. In this case the journey from point A to B doesn't signify an emotional evolution, as the bulk of the character arcs occur before the destination is ever in reach. In fact part of the film's mystery is whether Dave and Woody will even reach Nebraska, as they are waylaid early on by the old man's drunken mishaps. Instead they end up staying in Woody's hometown with family, but the stay is anything but a pleasure trip.
Once word gets out that Woody has come into some money, family and marginal friends come from everywhere looking for a hand out. It's in Woody's reactions to these people who are obviously trying to take advantage of him that we, and Dave for that matter, learn more about the man's character. While he comes off as hard and emotionless, he's quietly generous and sensitive. As he becomes something of a local celebrity, we see a man who perhaps has never felt any measure of appreciation all his life, and is looking for some small glimmer of meaning in his golden years.
Many will take exception to Payne's depiction of flyover country and its simple, homespun residents, especially since most of them are portrayed as devious (especially Stacy Keach as an old "friend" to Woody) and venal. But Payne is a Nebraska boy through and through, and there's genuine appreciation of their lack of pretension. He finds great comedy in the simple observations of their lives, like the men who only break from silence to talk about football, money, or cars. This is a film of quiet, subtle character moments of introspection, but Payne finds room for touches of broader humor. Most of this comes from the extraordinary June Squibb as Kate, a spitfire of a woman who always seems to have something negative to say about everybody, including Woody. But underneath all her fiery rhetoric there's a softness, a gentleness that shines through. She's the most aggressive character in a film full of reactive ones.
But this is a film that lives and dies by its two leads, and both Dern and Forte hit all the right notes. Dern is getting all of the accolades for what is a truly understated performance that requires him to portray years of hard living and disappointment without the use of much dialogue. One especially tough scene occurs when they visit Woody's old home, and you can sense a flood of old painful memories washing over him. Comedians making the transition into drama generally have a tough go of it but Forte slides comfortably into a hangdog performance as Dave.
Shot in a beautiful, vintage monochrome style the film is a gorgeous, visual poem of small-town America. Nebraska is a small-scale movie that plays on such a restrained fashion that its impact in the final stretch, as Dave finally begins to understand his father for the first time, hits harder than one might expect. While some of the conclusions Payne draws about family life are ones we're used to from him him, the warmth he brings is a surprising and refreshing change of pace.
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