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Nebraska (2013)
After close to 60 years in the business, veteran character actor Bruce Dern received his first Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor for his tour de force performance in a loopy road trip/character study called Nebraska, a funny and moving story that perfectly balances laughs with tears.
The 2013 film features Dern as Woody Grant, an aging resident of Billings Montana who is suffering from dementia and is caught by a policeman walking on the side of the highway. Apparently, Woody has a sweepstakes letter claiming that he has won a million dollars and that he has to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize. He cannot drive so he has decided to walk to Lincoln. A few days later, Woody's son, David (Will Forte) tries to convince his dad that the letter is a scam but he's not hearing that, so David agrees to take a few days off work and drive his dad to Lincoln.
David convinces Woody to take a detour to Hawthorne, Nebraska, the town where Woody grew up, where they are reunited with Woody's older brother (the late Rance Howard), his wife (Mary Louise Wilson), and several other friends and relatives who are thrilled with the news that Woody has won a million dollars and when David tries to explain that Woody hasn't really won anything, they aren't hearing it either and all have their hands out, claiming that Woody owes them all money. Woody's wife (June Squibb) and David's brother, Ross (Bob Odenkirk) join Woody and David in Hawthorne to try and referee the proceedings and keep the greedy relatives from tearing Woody apart.
Alexander Payne (Election, Sideway, About Schmidt) is no stranger to bringing bizarre stories to the screen, though this is the the first time he is working with a screenplay written by someone else. Bob Nelson's script is joyous in its simplicity and the was it captures the sometimes awkward events that are reuniting Woody's family for the first time in a long time and the new and sometimes ugly places such reunions can go when the possibility of money is involved.
My heart really went out to the David character in this movie when he finally decided to quit fighting the fact that his father was not accepting the fact that this letter was a hoax, but I didn't understand why he wasn't able to convince the greedy friends and relatives the same and couldn't really get behind all of them refusing to believe it either, I mean they weren't all suffering from dementia. Two of Woody's relatives actually jump him outside a bar to get the letter from him and Woody's former business partner actually threatens him with physical violence if Woody doesn't give him $10,000.
The real pleasure in this film was watching this character Woody and seeing how much of his memory is just gone and is in complete denial about it. The only other performance that nailed dementia the way this one does was Phillip Bosco in The Savages. But I loved the two scenes where we some of the light return to Woody's eyes...one was when he returned to the house that he grew up in and during the fabulous finale where David makes him an offer he can't refuse.
Dern was nominated for Best Supporting Actor way back in 1979 for Coming Home, so it was really nice to see him get recognized for this powerhouse performance. Squibb also received her first ever nomination for supporting actress for her no-nonsense wife simultaneously fed up with her husband and trying to protect him. Will Forte does some impressive work in his first serious film role and it was lovely seeing Rance Howard as Dern's older brother and the always watchable Mary Louise Wilson. An often hilarious and often heartbreaking journey with a finale so special it knocked my rating up half a bag of popcorn.
After close to 60 years in the business, veteran character actor Bruce Dern received his first Oscar nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor for his tour de force performance in a loopy road trip/character study called Nebraska, a funny and moving story that perfectly balances laughs with tears.
The 2013 film features Dern as Woody Grant, an aging resident of Billings Montana who is suffering from dementia and is caught by a policeman walking on the side of the highway. Apparently, Woody has a sweepstakes letter claiming that he has won a million dollars and that he has to go to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his prize. He cannot drive so he has decided to walk to Lincoln. A few days later, Woody's son, David (Will Forte) tries to convince his dad that the letter is a scam but he's not hearing that, so David agrees to take a few days off work and drive his dad to Lincoln.
David convinces Woody to take a detour to Hawthorne, Nebraska, the town where Woody grew up, where they are reunited with Woody's older brother (the late Rance Howard), his wife (Mary Louise Wilson), and several other friends and relatives who are thrilled with the news that Woody has won a million dollars and when David tries to explain that Woody hasn't really won anything, they aren't hearing it either and all have their hands out, claiming that Woody owes them all money. Woody's wife (June Squibb) and David's brother, Ross (Bob Odenkirk) join Woody and David in Hawthorne to try and referee the proceedings and keep the greedy relatives from tearing Woody apart.
Alexander Payne (Election, Sideway, About Schmidt) is no stranger to bringing bizarre stories to the screen, though this is the the first time he is working with a screenplay written by someone else. Bob Nelson's script is joyous in its simplicity and the was it captures the sometimes awkward events that are reuniting Woody's family for the first time in a long time and the new and sometimes ugly places such reunions can go when the possibility of money is involved.
My heart really went out to the David character in this movie when he finally decided to quit fighting the fact that his father was not accepting the fact that this letter was a hoax, but I didn't understand why he wasn't able to convince the greedy friends and relatives the same and couldn't really get behind all of them refusing to believe it either, I mean they weren't all suffering from dementia. Two of Woody's relatives actually jump him outside a bar to get the letter from him and Woody's former business partner actually threatens him with physical violence if Woody doesn't give him $10,000.
The real pleasure in this film was watching this character Woody and seeing how much of his memory is just gone and is in complete denial about it. The only other performance that nailed dementia the way this one does was Phillip Bosco in The Savages. But I loved the two scenes where we some of the light return to Woody's eyes...one was when he returned to the house that he grew up in and during the fabulous finale where David makes him an offer he can't refuse.
Dern was nominated for Best Supporting Actor way back in 1979 for Coming Home, so it was really nice to see him get recognized for this powerhouse performance. Squibb also received her first ever nomination for supporting actress for her no-nonsense wife simultaneously fed up with her husband and trying to protect him. Will Forte does some impressive work in his first serious film role and it was lovely seeing Rance Howard as Dern's older brother and the always watchable Mary Louise Wilson. An often hilarious and often heartbreaking journey with a finale so special it knocked my rating up half a bag of popcorn.