Nebraska

When it come to dry-witted comedies, Alexander Payne is probably the king--close second being the Coen Brothers. His comedies usually take very ordinary people and places them in dysfunctional situations with the possibility that these characters can learn something from their predicaments, and "Nebraska" is no exception.

In a nutshell, this is a story about an aging, confused, booze-addled father, Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) who makes the trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son, David (Will Forte) in order to claim a million dollar Mega Sweepstakes Marketing prize. However, if you want to go into more detail, this is a father and son road trip, from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska that gets waylaid at a small town, Hawthorne, in central Nebraska, where Woody grew up and has scores to settle with others there, especially with old friend, Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach). The rest of Woody's family, wife Kate (June Squibb) and other son, Ross (Bob Odenkirk) decide to subsequently meet Woody and David in Hawthorne and, at that point, the family dysfunctions start to fly.
Told with deadpan, powder-dry humor and a unique visual style, it's ultimately the story of a son, David trying to get through to a father he clearly doesn't understand.

Others to round out the cast are Mary Louise Wilson as Aunt Martha, Rance Howard as Uncle Ray, Tim Driscoll as Bart, Devin Ratray as Cole, Angela McEwan as Peg Nagy, Gelndora Stitt as Aunt Betty, Elizabeth Moore as Aunt Flo, Kevin Kunkel as Cousin Randy, Dennis McCoig as Uncle Vern, and Ronald Vosta as Uncle Albert.

This was brilliantly directed by visionary director Alexander Payne ("The Passion of Martin" '91, "Citizen Ruth" '96, "Election" '99, "About Schmidt" '02, "Sideways" '04, "The Descendants" '11). This guy is a consummate pro at the ability of emitting dysfunction out of a dry presence in his actors that is so hilarious that one must look at his resume to understand this statement. Even though this writer only has TV experience, before this project, to his name, Bob Nelson wrote an incredibly tight, clearly delineated screenplay about the possible re-connection of a father and son all done in a very dry, but dysfunctional way. I believe a lot of us can relate to, at least, one of these characters in this story, which makes it that much more compelling. This guy will receive future work.
Speaking before of a visual style, the cinematographer, Phedon Papamichael, asc, gave an amazing look of middle America--showing the dry, worn, and cool look of the terrain, buildings, and people which more than connects with the dysfunction, and quirkiness of the people there. Papamichael definitely did it justice; just look at his resume to understand: "After Midnight" '89, "Prayer of the Rollerboys" '90, "Cool Runnings" '93, "Unstrung Heroes" '95, "Phenomenon" '96, "Mousehunt" '97, "America's Sweethearts" '01, "Moonlight Mile" '02, "Identity" '03, "Sideways" '04, "Walk the Line" '05, "The Pursuit of Happyness" '06, "3:10 to Yuma" '07, "W." '08, "The Ides of March" '11, "The Descendants" '11, "This is 40" '12. Using the black and white look by implementing the Deluxe process in a digital intermediate format was a stroke of genius, because it, too, just gives that deslolate look, considering the desolation within this family. This film could be up for nods come Oscar time, including Payne, Dern, Forte, and Papamichael.

This is truly golden Alexander Payne which is character development, a stylized look, with that right amount of dysfunction we have come to expect. So with these elements in check, we have an incredibly well crafted American film that will leave you only wanting more.

Out of 4 Stars: 4                         Rated: R                           115mins.