On DVD and Blu Ray - "Nebraska" - Alexander Payne's (About Schmidt, Election) assault on the Midwest and it's inhabitants continues with this painfully forced and stagey misfire- it's filled with Payne's signature goofballery and trite dialogue, though this particular outing is decidedly uninspired, with the seemingly stilted and half-heartedly rehearsed delivery from the majority of it's cast and a series of underwhelming situations quickly grounding out the story in boring territory. This is one of the weaker Academy Award Best Picture nominees since... well, since 2012's terminally shitty Beasts Of The Southern Wild.
Bruce Dern (The 'Burbs) stars as the elderly, addled alcoholic who's convinced that he's won a million dollars from one of those annoying marketing sweepstakes junk mail ploys. After a handful of attempts to make the trip from Montana to Nebraska on foot to claim his prize are thwarted by local authorities, his estranged son (Will Forte) reluctantly agrees to drive him to his desired destination in an effort to appease him. June Squibb (About Schmidt) pops in and out of the picture as the matriarch of the family who's fed up with her husband's antics.
The film is essentially a road picture, with Father and Son making several stops along the way to visit beer joints and extended family- funny how every single character who pops up in support is a greedy simpleton or an outright idiot... those familiar with Payne's work should recognize his obvious disdain for rural folk- his penchant for presenting them as shallow caricatures has grown tiresome and has run it's course, too bad those powers-that-be in Hollywood continue to pass this garbage off as "authentic". Then again, considering the sensibilities at work, I guess that pretty much figures.
Dern's performance here is listless, mainly consisting of the maddeningly repetitive inquisitiveness of a elderly person who refuses to use a hearing aide- it's meant to be funny as an ongoing gag but quickly grows redundant in it's adolescent employment. The 76-year-old actor is still very talented and can be gruffly likeable- the material, and direction, just isn't there with this outing.
Will Forte speaks with some kind of double near-sneer as he conveys dialogue- it's distracting, but not nearly as bad as his acting here. June Squibb was nominated for an Oscar for her supporting role- must have been a VERY lean year for quality acting from actresses in the category...
The only true positives I could pull from this film was the gloriously stark black and white cinematography, courtesy of Phedon Papamichael, and a humorous segment where Forte's character and his brother (Bob Odenkirk) attempt to retrieve a long "borrowed" generator from a farmhouse.
My call is to skip this pretentious, amateurish affair- it's one of the more highly overrated releases of 2013.
5.5 out of 10
Director: Alexander Payne
Cast: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk and Stacy Keach
Run-Time: 115 minutes
MPAA: Rated R for some language
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