Nebraska: movie review 2013

        Lots of movies hit the screens during the December period: families are looking for indoor activities, directors and producers are serving up their studio pics for possible Oscar consideration; and distributors need cash customers.  All factors in filling seats.  Media outlets conspire to grab reviewers' interest: full page ads grace the print media pages; incessant trailers assault all movie goers while they wait for the "single" feature to be shown, and talk shows and video make their contributions on the internet.
       So, NEBRASKA, starring Bruce Dern, that veteran of so many memorable films.  Now 78 yrs old, he's playing the role of a demented father/husband, finding himself confused and baffled by everyday life.  Set in the West/mid-West-Montana to Nebraska, Dern portrays the aging husband, father of 2 grown boys, struggling with everyday issues.  His wife plays the role of the overworked spouse/caregiver whose job now is to keep the aging husband under control.  But, alas, Dern has won a million dollar prize in the usual magazine subscription scam.   Now, he's going to Nebraska to collect the prize.  
       We follow him and his family as he struggles to accomplish his task of getting to Nebraska.  The film is a combination father/son road trip; going home again, facing old slights and problems from old business dealings;and of course, the ups-and-downs of a long marriage with all its baggage.
      The landscape is as much of the film as characters.  It is reminiscent of "The Last Picture Show".  Shot in black and white, the film captures a bleak winter when farmers and those who live with them, stumble through another winter, waiting for the spring thaw to get them onto their tractors and back on the earth.   His meetings with old partners, school pals, and girlfriends are classic- a visual memoir of a life in twilight.
      The dialogue is excellent: direct, regional, and believable. Dern is at his best-this is a great performance.
Mayor's rating: *****!