13) Nebraska by Alexander Payne. Basically, Nebraska can be seen as a spiritual successor to About Schmidt, in the sense that it is also about an older man trying to find a place for himself in a world that doesnt seem to have a use for him anymore. The films protagonist, beautifully played by Bruce Dern, is not taken seriously by either his wife or his children, so when he seems to have won a cash prize, he tenaciously holds onto the idea of something, anything finally working out for him. A quixotic road trip ensues with his skeptical son in the role of Sancho Panza. Nebraska is Alexander Payne at his best. During his career hes perfected this kind of comic drama, in which prideful losers gain a sort of tragic heroism through their attempts at amounting to something. The black-and-white in which the film is shot perfectly complements the sense of loss and melancholy that is threaded through it and is most strongly evoked when the father-son pair spend some time in the town where the father grew up and met his wife. Time has passed the community by completely, and the idea of being out of time is a central one. One can accuse Payne of laughing at his characters instead of with them, and a case can be made against the film in its portrayal of the dumb, greedy inhabitants of the fathers native town. Still, he never gives his protagonists short shrift, and the relatively hopeful note he ends the film with feels completely earned. https://m.youtube/watch?v=UT5tqPojMtg
Posted on: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 20:29:31 +0000
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