Nebraska – Chasing Chances
Directed by Academy award winner Alexander Payne(About Schmidt, Sideways, The Descendants), Nebraska is a meaningful comedy drama shot in wide-screen black and white by cinematographer Phedon Papamichael. The leading man is veteran character actor Bruce Dern as Woody Grant, a stubborn curmudgeon from Montana who receives a scam letter saying that he has won a million dollar magazine sweepstakes. His dutiful son, David, played brilliantly by Will Forte (continuing his unexpected transition from comedy to drama) gives Woody a ride to the head office in Nebraska to collect the so-called quick million.
June Squibb (About Schmidt), in the performance of her career, is Grant’s battle-axe wife, Kate who silently loves this difficult man. “I never knew the son-of-a-bitch wanted to be a millionaire; he should’ve thought about that years ago, and worked for it” are among her punchy and pitch perfect one liners. Squibb steals scenes left and right and earned herself a well-deserved Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. It’s a pity she’s up against Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave.
In signature Payne style, himself an Omaha native, Nebraska is layered with insights into family bonds, father and sons, friendships and the vagaries of the Mid-Western culture. The wild goose road trip results in family gatherings where we meet interesting personalities. At a deeper level, David begins to get a different perspective on his father, who was an elusive man and hard to connect with growing up. One wonders does Woody actually believe the contents of the letter or is he delusional and vulnerable because of his long tem alcoholism? It cleverly alternates between melancholy and deadpan funny with a message about the importance of “spending time” as well as highlighting that it’s never too late to do something proactive with your life, however lofty.
When word of Woody’s winnings spread to his home town, he becomes a minor celebrity and friends and acquaintances show their true colors. Stacy Keach is good as Woody’s previous business partner, Ed Pegram who clearly thinks he deserves a piece of the pie. Other notable performances include Bob Odendirk (Breaking Bad) as Woody’s other son Ross, he is career driven and forgiving of a father who neglected him growing up.
Woody’s true intentions finally get revealed by the end of the road trip and we understand him and his sadness better. Overall, the cast of this film turned out superb performances. At 76 and 84 respectively,Dern and Squibb show off their skill at every turn. The script by fellow Nebraskan Bob Nelson never gets sentimental and Payne is a perfect person to helm the piece: he is a genius at examining jaded American families in a satirical yet compassionate way.
In terms of Oscars, unfortunately, I don’t think any of the cast or crew will win. For some, it might be hard to connect with the melancholy elements of the story and front runners such as McConaughey inDallas Buyers Club are just too hard to beat.