Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and June Squibb
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Screenplay by: Bob Nelson
Let me begin by saying that if you don't like black and white movies, Nebraska is not the movie for you.
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) has won $1 million. At least, that's what he thinks. We first meet Woody Grant on the side of the highway in Billings, Montana, where he is walking (or at least attempting to walk) to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings. He's a pretty old man with some other issues in his life and walking there isn't the smartest idea, even for any young person. His son, David (Will Forte) and his wife, Kate (June Squibb) think he's crazy and assume that his potential winning of $1 million is all a hoax. But Woody believes it to be true.
So, David gets in a car with his father and they drive all the way to Lincoln to collect the winnings. Along the way, they stop in Hawthorne, Nebraska, where the family is originally from. Woody is the talk of the town once they arrive because he's potentially the only millionaire in Hawthorne. The problem, Woody didn't actually win anything. How is everyone going to take the news? Well, you'll just have to see the movie to find out.
You may recognize Will Forte from Saturday Night Live, but I assure you, he is not so funny in this movie. It's a serious movie in which he plays the most serious role in the whole movie. He delivers a strong performance. It's not strong enough to get him nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor, but certainly one of his finer performances.
Bruce Dern has been nominated for best actor for his role in this film, a nomination well deserved. He is fantastic in this film, even though he plays a space cadet character. He provides the most comic relief when comic relief is needed in this film.
The best performance of the film is that of June Squibb. At times she is the most serious character in the film, but towards the latter half of the film, she is the funniest to watch. She plays the funny old woman that everyone loves. She is nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress, an award well deserved.
There is something unusual about this movie that we rarely see of movies anymore. It's in black and white. There was a time when black and white was classy because that was the way almost all movies were made, but now almost all movies made are in color. Color can sometimes play a big role in the themes and development of the storyline of a movie. So can the lack of color. Nebraska happens to be a movie where I don't see what the reason for black and white is. It seems unnecessary to the film. Perhaps it's in black and white just to be different and more noteworthy than other movies released these days. But because color is so common, there needs to be a better reason than this to have a movie in black and white, and I don't see a reason that's good enough. The lack of color plays absolutely no part in this film and doesn't make the film any better. The filmmakers should have simply stuck with a color film, and it would have been a better film.
Overall, this film shows the struggle that adults have when caring for their aging parents, especially when they're a little spacey, like Woody Grant, and when they do crazy things they shouldn't be doing, like attempting to walk over 700 miles just to collect $1 million. This is a film that should not be missed before the Oscars ceremony in a few weeks.
I give Nebraska an A-.
Directed by: Alexander Payne
Screenplay by: Bob Nelson
Let me begin by saying that if you don't like black and white movies, Nebraska is not the movie for you.
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) has won $1 million. At least, that's what he thinks. We first meet Woody Grant on the side of the highway in Billings, Montana, where he is walking (or at least attempting to walk) to Lincoln, Nebraska to collect his winnings. He's a pretty old man with some other issues in his life and walking there isn't the smartest idea, even for any young person. His son, David (Will Forte) and his wife, Kate (June Squibb) think he's crazy and assume that his potential winning of $1 million is all a hoax. But Woody believes it to be true.
So, David gets in a car with his father and they drive all the way to Lincoln to collect the winnings. Along the way, they stop in Hawthorne, Nebraska, where the family is originally from. Woody is the talk of the town once they arrive because he's potentially the only millionaire in Hawthorne. The problem, Woody didn't actually win anything. How is everyone going to take the news? Well, you'll just have to see the movie to find out.
You may recognize Will Forte from Saturday Night Live, but I assure you, he is not so funny in this movie. It's a serious movie in which he plays the most serious role in the whole movie. He delivers a strong performance. It's not strong enough to get him nominated for the Oscar for best supporting actor, but certainly one of his finer performances.
Bruce Dern has been nominated for best actor for his role in this film, a nomination well deserved. He is fantastic in this film, even though he plays a space cadet character. He provides the most comic relief when comic relief is needed in this film.
The best performance of the film is that of June Squibb. At times she is the most serious character in the film, but towards the latter half of the film, she is the funniest to watch. She plays the funny old woman that everyone loves. She is nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress, an award well deserved.
There is something unusual about this movie that we rarely see of movies anymore. It's in black and white. There was a time when black and white was classy because that was the way almost all movies were made, but now almost all movies made are in color. Color can sometimes play a big role in the themes and development of the storyline of a movie. So can the lack of color. Nebraska happens to be a movie where I don't see what the reason for black and white is. It seems unnecessary to the film. Perhaps it's in black and white just to be different and more noteworthy than other movies released these days. But because color is so common, there needs to be a better reason than this to have a movie in black and white, and I don't see a reason that's good enough. The lack of color plays absolutely no part in this film and doesn't make the film any better. The filmmakers should have simply stuck with a color film, and it would have been a better film.
Overall, this film shows the struggle that adults have when caring for their aging parents, especially when they're a little spacey, like Woody Grant, and when they do crazy things they shouldn't be doing, like attempting to walk over 700 miles just to collect $1 million. This is a film that should not be missed before the Oscars ceremony in a few weeks.
I give Nebraska an A-.
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