In Alexander Payne's acerbic, affecting new feature Nebraska, a small but pivotal moment passes between hopelessly mild David (Will Forte) and his obstinate father, Woody (Bruce Dern). The older man's bullying ex-partner Ed (Stacy Keach) carelessly reveals a secret that the older man had kept from his son for decades. Both Dern and Forte superbly convey the emotional wrinkles of this embarrassing moment, accentuating the film's central question: Can we ever really know our parents as people?
Woody is a cantankerous veteran and unapologetic drunk living out his retirement with exasperated wife Kate (June Squibb) in Montana. Puttering at the edges of dementia, Woody has recently received a sweepstakes letter that promises him a million dollars if he travels to Nebraska to claim his prize. David repeatedly explains that this alleged jackpot is a scam, but a combination of pity, duty, and dissatisfaction about his own life prompts the son to humor the father. On the way to collect the nonexistent winnings, the pair stop at a family gathering in Woody's old hometown, leading to a green-eyed uproar as word of the man's newfound wealth spreads.
Director Payne's filmography encompasses the subversive and crowd-pleasing, but Nebraska is his first feature that flirts with cinematic greatness. Working from a droll but moving screenplay by Bill Nelson, Payne shot the film in crisp, digital black-and-white, capturing every forlorn crevasse of its Heartland setting. However, the cornerstone of Nebraska is emotional rather than aesthetic. Payne' s film possesses a unstrained humanity that originates from an uncluttered, relatable tale of familial angst. That humanity attains life through a portrayal of rural Midwestern culture that is refreshing in its humor, warmth, and fidelity.
