Alexander Payne's 'Nebraska'

Corholio

Big fan of Payne's previous films, so looking forward to this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5tqPojMtg

Mocha Joe

Looks good. Also a fan of Payne's films. Summer is over so should get some interesting films over the next few months.

johnny_ultimate

Saw it today, and as is to be expected it's a thoroughly pleasant, intelligently crafted piece of work, albeit one that signals Payne again playing it relatively safe. The black & white cinematography is gorgeous: as difficult as it can be to describe why exactly a monochromatic palette works outside of simple nostalgia, here it most definitely suits the tone and general feeling of a story and characters out of time. Bar glimpses at a few modern conveniences and a sense of economic desolation and social dislocation affecting the rural setting that serves as the film's hub, this is a pleasingly old-fashioned effort. The acting is excellent: Dern's complex and introverted performance will earn the lion's share of the kudos, but it's also brilliantly counterpointed by a more extroverted but no less committed performance from June Squibb.

It's a mild-mannered film all-in-all, and the familiar story at its centre is enlivened by strong character work, sombre pacing and just generally careful delivery. There's a tendency to overplay the 'country bumpkins' characters for exaggerated comedic effect, although by and large the chuckles are well-earned.

All that said, it's more inoffensive and middle-of-the-road fare from Payne, and while he's one of the best directors working in that particular niche of American cinema, I didn't feel like he really pushed himself here. It revisits many Payne's previously explored themes, locations and even character types and motivations - and he didn't even write it himself! More important directors than Payne simply honed their basic narratives over their careers, but I must admit I'd like to see this director take a new direction next time around.

After this and The Descendants - both of which I enjoyed, I hasten to add - I am sort of pining for an older, wiser take on the caustic, subversive wit that defined his early features, and even Sideways. Either that or something completely different: actually, preferably something completely different. Particularly so because visually this is probably the best film he's made, so his skills are developing in many respects. The man still has the ability to draw you into a story, however predictable, and he does so with subtlety and grace. But I already well knew he could do that, and was reminded of that not so long ago. What else has he got?

e_e

Good but a little too one-note. The film definitely risks redundancy at the end, with a few too many montages, Bruce Dern acting confused, family members being petty and the wife insulting people past and present. I don't think there's as much of a cumulative effect as Payne would like to be and although the final touches of the story are sweet, they are hardly revelatory.

LuckyLloyd

I really liked it and disagree with some of the above re redundancy towards the end. I thought the couple of sharp revelations in his childhood home and the second last bar scene worked so well because they were hard earned. The whole thing was at once very quirky and lighthearted while also being very real - it's ultimately a bright treatment of some very serious and fundamental aspects of life.

Dern is incredible throughout.

charlie_says

I was charmed by this movie. The black and white cinematography and the excellent cast and humorous script all came together in a very feel good blend. The performances of the main character and Dern and his wife (I don't know her name June Squibb) where fabulous and got many laughs out of the audience.

I haven't seen any of the other Oscar nominated films for best film other than The Wolf of Wallstreet and Nebraska is in another class of film making entirely.

Loved it, would highly recommend it. Touching, funny and deftly crafted movie by Alexander Payne.

Da Shins Kelly

Saw this tonight and was really pleasantly surprised. I was worried going into it that it would be a bit overly sentimental, but it veers away from that danger zone quite well. It is a somewhat familiar idea of the binding of family on a cross-country journey and them learning things about each other that they never knew before, but the humour really keeps it fresh, and the understated nature of it all gives it a genuine emotional kick.

The black and white was beautiful and nostalgic and perfectly fits with the idea of repressed or hidden family memories, and the soundtrack provides a lovely, wistful backdrop to the vast, lonely landscape of the American midwest. I'd say the best scene in the film is the scene in the office of the town newspaper between David and the paper's editor. In this scene, the meeting between past and present really comes alive and to the fore (the scene in the cemetery works well like this too, albeit in a more brash way).

The acting throughout is superb. Bruce Dern turns in a great performance as Woody. Physically it's very impressive with the stumbling, limping and falling about, and his dishevelled look and weathered face bear the self-loathing and sorrow he carries with him brilliantly. His barely coherent mutterings at times also bring an aloofness to the character that really contrast with the mysterious, contradictory stories of his past. Will Forte is similarly nuanced and his scenes with Dern are great to watch and you see clearly all the unaired grievances between them bubbling beneath the surface, and the very real cross-generational differences between children and their parents. June Squibb stands out too as the real comic character, the fantastically fiery and long-suffering Kate who, despite her venomous tongue, comes through when she is really needed and provides a stark contrast to the passive complicity in everyone else's attitude towards Woody and his illusion.

I thought it went beyond simply being pleasant, into being quite a good picture of fading small-town American life and family - the gossiping and hidden secrets and what have you. It also depicts very well the breakdown of values in the community and family and how the elderly are often looked upon as ridiculous and sometimes even treated like children in a way.

Overall, it isn't a perfect film, but certainly a thoroughly enjoyable one with no easy answers, which makes it all the better, for me.

Baked.noodle

Just watched this tonight and I thought it was brilliant. Very enjoyable musically and aesthetically. Some of it is very funny, and the pace is great. It's all so convincing yet at the same time charming. 9/10.