.....and I enjoyed it.
The Link
Spoilers ahead!!!!!!!
After watching and favorably reviewing "August: Osage County," I thought I'd seen enough of dysfunctional families this Oscar season.
At least this flick had a happier ending.
But, I certainly wouldn't recommend seeing those two films as a double feature.
Not even for me.
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Bruce Dern), Best Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography, this film does for native Cornhuskers what that other flick did for the Sooner state.
"August: Osage County" was about a very trippy homecoming with a real bite, whereas "Nebraska" features a father/son road trip and a bit of a homecoming.
Excellent acting by most in the cast, but this dysfunctionality dramedy doesn't have the hope that its genre mate: "Silver Linings Playbook" sought throughout and offered at the end.
That's because the characters in this story are neither as young as those played by Jennifer Lawrence or Bradley Cooper, nor even as vivacious as each of Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver were in that 2012 box office/critical hit.
Here, Bruce Dern's cinematic character, his movie wife, his brothers and friends are all old, like Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuella Riva were in 2012's Foreign Language Oscar winner: "Amour."
And they're bitter about living in hard times, mostly greedy and many are in mental decline.
Only the town's newspaper lady (played by Angela McEwan) ever tugged at my heartstrings.
However, the B&W cinematography is gritty (it looks just like "The Last Picture Show" did), both Bruce Dern and June Squibb (she lasciviously flashes an old boyfriend's tombstone) are great in their roles and director Alexander Payne ("The Descendants," "Sideways," "About Schmidt") delivers thoughtful thoughts about both his home state and growing old.
This movie starts off pretty slow and really never speeds up very much, but for me it delivered and was worthwhile.
It probably reveals why Johnny Carson had to leave Nebraska (he was from the small, bugeater burg of Norfolk) to seek success and also why he always retained a common touch and remained, as Dick Cavitt said, "the most private public man who ever lived."
Recommended for those who like Bruce Dern and enjoy watching insightful, though possibly painful, movies.
Anyone seen it?
The Link
Spoilers ahead!!!!!!!
After watching and favorably reviewing "August: Osage County," I thought I'd seen enough of dysfunctional families this Oscar season.
At least this flick had a happier ending.
But, I certainly wouldn't recommend seeing those two films as a double feature.
Not even for me.
Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actor (Bruce Dern), Best Supporting Actress (June Squibb), Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Cinematography, this film does for native Cornhuskers what that other flick did for the Sooner state.
"August: Osage County" was about a very trippy homecoming with a real bite, whereas "Nebraska" features a father/son road trip and a bit of a homecoming.
Excellent acting by most in the cast, but this dysfunctionality dramedy doesn't have the hope that its genre mate: "Silver Linings Playbook" sought throughout and offered at the end.
That's because the characters in this story are neither as young as those played by Jennifer Lawrence or Bradley Cooper, nor even as vivacious as each of Robert De Niro and Jacki Weaver were in that 2012 box office/critical hit.
Here, Bruce Dern's cinematic character, his movie wife, his brothers and friends are all old, like Jean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuella Riva were in 2012's Foreign Language Oscar winner: "Amour."
And they're bitter about living in hard times, mostly greedy and many are in mental decline.
Only the town's newspaper lady (played by Angela McEwan) ever tugged at my heartstrings.
However, the B&W cinematography is gritty (it looks just like "The Last Picture Show" did), both Bruce Dern and June Squibb (she lasciviously flashes an old boyfriend's tombstone) are great in their roles and director Alexander Payne ("The Descendants," "Sideways," "About Schmidt") delivers thoughtful thoughts about both his home state and growing old.
This movie starts off pretty slow and really never speeds up very much, but for me it delivered and was worthwhile.
It probably reveals why Johnny Carson had to leave Nebraska (he was from the small, bugeater burg of Norfolk) to seek success and also why he always retained a common touch and remained, as Dick Cavitt said, "the most private public man who ever lived."
Recommended for those who like Bruce Dern and enjoy watching insightful, though possibly painful, movies.
Anyone seen it?
