Where to start with a film like ‘Nebraska’? An incredibly poignant and almost poetic tribute to rural midwestern life in America. For those of us who are from or had relatives who lived in this slice of Americana, it is remarkable how perfectly this film captures the tone and feel of day to day life in the midwest. This is a quiet, even ponderous film, of a life that is often parodied, but rarely fully illustrated. Shot in stark black and white that only enhances the colorlessness and monotony of rural life, Nebraska both mocks, yet fully realizes and fleshes out people and situations we all know.
Hollywood legend Bruce Dern gives the performance of his career (I’ll be surprised if he isn’t nominated for an Oscar), as the elderly and losing it Woody Grant. Woody is convinced that the Publisher Sweepstakes letter he received in the mail claiming he has already won a million dollars is real and sets off to the home office in Nebraska to claim his winnings. Will Forte (in a rare dramatic role), plays David, Woody’s down on his luck stereo salesman son. While David is dealing with the break up of his girlfriend and his dead end job, he must also confront the mental decline of his father. Having lost his driver’s license years ago, Woody tries to walk via interstate to Nebraska from Billings, Montana. Of course, he never gets far before he is brought back to his family by the authorities.
David leads an ordinary and commonplace life that lacks passion of any kind. The film captures perfectly the grayness of a rural and economically depressed life. David realizes that his time with his father is coming to an end and recognizes the misguided passion that Woody’s million dollar obsession has ignited within him, perhaps for the last time. David, against the entire family’s advice, decides to drive his father to Nebraska to fulfill his dream.
Like any Odyssey, the story is in the voyage, not the destination. The dialogue is minimalist and the conversation shallow as is the way of elderly midwesterners. Conversation is more of a tool of ritual and comfort than the actual conveying of ideas. However, as Woody’s age and confusion causes his conversational filters to loosen, David comes to see his father as a person and learn about the events that shaped his life and brought him to where he is today. Rarely are they attractive revelations, but David gains an understanding of his father as a human being rather than his parent.
On the journey to Nebraska, father and son make a stop in Woody’s hometown where, despite being gone for decades, Woody is greeted like he just left the previous week. All the old friendships as well as the old rivalries and grudges still exist and time has done very little to diminish them. When the townspeople learn of Woody’s mission to collect a million dollars, he becomes the talk of the town. David’s insistence that it is not true only serves to deepen the belief that Woody is now a millionaire. A small town boy made good. We slowly see family and friend’s excitement turn to envy and then covetous. Everyone wants a piece of the pie and the imaginary million dollars brings out the worst in everyone. It is an uncomfortable look at small town and family relations and politics. We uncomfortably watch with both amusement and revulsion as we see the vulturous intentions that lie just below the surface of most relationships.
Whether Woody and son reach Nebraska is irrelevant. Whether or not Woody has a million dollars waiting for him is not important. This film was not about having a tidy emotional payoff at the end. As I stated earlier, this is about the journey and the discovery. This is about a father and son gaining a new perspective of each other at the end of a father’s life. A deepening of the understanding that we are all human with virtues and faults (mostly faults) as we traverse life.
I give this film *** stars
