Nebraska is much more than a film. It is the defining moment of four (count them---four) careers. First there's Bruce Dern, a man who has proven time and time again to be one of the greatest living actors. He gives his best performance to date here playing simultaneously vulnerable and ludicrous very well. Next there's Will Forte, who has built his career on playing enormously wacky characters, most notably MacGruber. He actually has to be the straight man and in his first dramatic performance proves to have a great future ahead of them. June Squibb, a woman whose name is not exactly household steals every scene she's in and makes the audience hope to see her in more. Lastly there's Bob Odenkirk who many will recognize from "Breaking Bad" but who also did the brilliant sketch comedy "Mr. Show" with fellow comedian David Cross. He gives a truly wonderful supporting performance and proves to be a true movie star.
The set up---Woody Grant (Dern) is a confused old man who gets a letter from a sweepstakes telling him he's won a million dollars. His wife Kate (June Squibb) thinks he's crazy for ever believing that letter let alone letting himself become obsessed with him. Much to the chagrin of his brother Ross (Odenkirk) and Kate...Woody's son, David (Forte) agrees to drive him up to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings. There they stop in their old town where a flame reheats with Woody's ex business partner Ed (Stacy Keach) and a debate sparks about whether or not Woody is off his rocker.
The film is directed in beautiful black and white by Alexander Payne who has made a name for himself on movies about mid or late life crises (About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants.) This, however is by far his best film to date. The performances, as I have already mentioned, are terrific and the film is visually stunning. I can't say exactly how but the black and white perfectly fits the mood of the film. Also---each character has their likable side but are never let off the hook for their wrongdoings. Woody is just trying to help his family but is also completely naive about how little he is actually doing so. David and Ross are good sons but they both tend to get into sticky situations too deep. Kate is incredibly sympathetic and obviously cares about Woody but is also a bit of a nasty old woman. Ed just wants Woody to help him out but approaches it from all the wrong angles. The writing is razor sharp, giving everyone both a comedic moment to shine and a very nice dramatic moment. Also....the film never peters out. In fact...the ending is perfect and it never lets its characters down.
Nebraska is written by first time writer Bob Nelson who has proven to be a man to look out for. Payne proves again to be one of the finest directors working today and this proves to be quite possibly the best film of 2013.
(5 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated R for some language)
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