Nebraska Review

[Westside Steve]

Nebraska

Paramount

R 110 min

Now that the number of Best Picture nominations has been nearly doubledwe can usually expect to find at least one quirky little flick. This year, since there seems to be room for only one, NEBRASKA starring Bruce Dern seems to have edge to out my favorite INSIDE LLEWIN DAVIS. Fine. Dern has paid his dues and done one of his best roles here.

We've all received advertisements from companies that promise riches to whoevers number matches the one at the office. They are are usually linked with offers to purchase magazine subscriptions or some other crap.

Woody (Dern) is a natural born sucker, an old man with the perfect combination of naivete and dymensia, just the type of fish these companies like to hook. Upon receiving his advertisement he sets of on a journey to Lincoln Nebraska to claim what he believes is his million dollars. Despite the insistence of friends and family that this is a hoax he is bound and determined to complete the trip.

That's the premise of this redemption road flick. The buddy in this case is his son, David (Will Forte).

Here in the old home town during comes face to face with some ghosts of his life, some humorous some bittersweet.

 

One bothersome needle in the haystack of comedy here is the way the director portrays the citizens of the small town who are Derns friends acquaintances and relatives .

It seems that everyone there in flyover country is portrayed as a moron, a hick, a rube. Of course rural white people have never made it to the PC protected list.

 

I'm on the fence concerning Bruce Derns performance here. It's just that sometimes it seems to me that makeup and wardrobe are the most obvious thing about a character. This was not an extremely challenging part; no soliloquy, no rapid fire re parte and no wide range of emotion. However understatement can also be a virtue. You decide.

But I really liked the ending. I won’t blow it.

B

WSS

[Zombo]

Saw this last week, this was a good flick. I agree in that Dern was great, but he didn't have enough acting to do, to deserve Best Actor. Still, it was a career defining role for him, it called for understated and he delivered beautifully. Enjoyed the ending as well.

 

And, no, the majority of country folk aren't rubes, but I am from a rural small town ... And I know people, and families, exactly like the people depicted in the movie ... Gave it a nice bit of humor for me.

 

Z