Rewind, Review, and Re-rate: ‘Nebraska’ Got 6 Oscar Nominations but It’s No ‘Sideways’

Mark Jackson
4/5/2022
Updated:
1/5/2024
The same director who scored big with the brilliant “Sideways” fumbled with “Nebraska.” Yes, it got six Oscar nominations—forget about it. Nobody, in my opinion, was able to admit that the emperor wasn’t wearing any clothes. “Sideways” was a hit; “Nebraska” was a miss. It’s like a particularly bleak Edward Hopper painting come to life: dismal, desolate, and depressing.
“Nebraska” contains the most microscopic Midwestern small talk you ever heard. Not that there’s anything wrong with Midwestern small talk; it’s just that the rule of thumb in terms of keeping a script interesting is that there must be tension in order to keep audiences paying attention. Tension = attention. The dialog is like that Randy Travis lyric: “As long as old men sit and talk about the weather, as long as old women sit and talk about old men.”

Million-dollar Sweepstakes!

Eighty-something Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) has clearly turned the corner into senility. His life has narrowed to an obsession about collecting on that type of pathetic million-dollar sweepstakes letter most Americans exit the womb recognizing as a hoax. Problem is, at life’s end when we’ve lost our minds, we inadvertently become suckers, and as P.T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.”
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) sets out to walk from Montana to Nebraska in order to claim what he believes is a million-dollar prize, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) sets out to walk from Montana to Nebraska in order to claim what he believes is a million-dollar prize, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Woody’s folks keep catching him out wandering along roads in Billings, Montana. Where’s he going? He’s going to claim his million dollars, by golly. Yep. In Nebraska. He’s just gonna walk there. His long-suffering, feisty wife (June Squibb, stealing every scene she’s in) has a phrase for this behavior: You dumb cluck!!
Kate Grant (June Squibb) likes to call her husband a dumb-cluck, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Kate Grant (June Squibb) likes to call her husband a dumb-cluck, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)

Son David (Will Forte) is a going-nowhere-fast stereo salesman. Having picked up his freeway-tromping dad one too many times, he decides a sweepstakes-collecting road trip with the old man is in order. Neither one has much left to lose. Isn’t that sad? But then, that’s life. The sad thing here is boring storytelling.

Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) sets out to walk from Montana to Nebraska in order to claim what he believes is a million-dollar prize, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) sets out to walk from Montana to Nebraska in order to claim what he believes is a million-dollar prize, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)

To Grandmother’s House They Go

But not before we get treated to a bit of stultifying backstory. And then it’s off to Nebraska. Remember Nebraska? This is a movie about Nebraska. That’s where all Woody’s antediluvian former cronies and sneaky relatives live, who naturally (and immediately) set about trying to separate him from his, as of yet, unclaimed millions.

Underway, they stop off to see Mt. Rushmore. Woody’s underwhelmed. Woody loses his false teeth. When they find them near some railroad tracks, they both take turns pretending they’re not his. Good times. The whole fun-filled family finally arrives in Nebraska at the home of dad’s monosyllabic brother (Bob Odenkirk). Mom and Dave’s better-adjusted anchorman sibling have followed them. Various long-unseen relatives are parked on a couch, watching a Bears-Packers game.

(L–R) Cole (Devin Ratray) and Bart (Tim Driscoll) disrespect cousin David Grant (Will Forte), in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
(L–R) Cole (Devin Ratray) and Bart (Tim Driscoll) disrespect cousin David Grant (Will Forte), in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)

Two trucker-hatted, side-burned, fast-food-bellied cousins (Devin Ratray, Tim Driscoll) have devolved into classic arrested-development knuckle-dragging freeloaders, who immediately take to dissing David’s driving. “It took you (snicker) how long to get here?” They do community service. For rape.

Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach, standing) gives a warm welcome to Woody, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach, standing) gives a warm welcome to Woody, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)

Woody and David bond feebly, Woody’s old grease-monkey colleague Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach) tries to squeeze Woody for money, and the town welcomes its returning hero by putting Woody’s picture in the local paper. Woody gets a standing ovation at a restaurant for being a millionaire. Except that he’s not one yet. Woody might yet score a Prize Winner hat. But I won’t say for sure in case, when this review ends, you still have a hankering to watch “Nebraska.”

Finally we get about two minutes’ worth of real drama and tension when Woody’s normally nagging wife heroically defends him from the vulpine relatives. The other 153 minutes of “Nebraska” is watching grass grow to a plaintive and melancholy score.

(L–R) Ross Grant (Bob Odenkirk), Cole (Devin Ratray), Bart (Tim Driscoll), and Kate (June Squibb). Kate gives all the men a piece of her mind, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
(L–R) Ross Grant (Bob Odenkirk), Cole (Devin Ratray), Bart (Tim Driscoll), and Kate (June Squibb). Kate gives all the men a piece of her mind, in "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)

There’s a running crescendo-deflation gag, where Woody responds to excited inquiries with (slight pause) “Huh?” All of which are meant to be comedic, but played too deadpan by Dern, they simply serve to make one cringe at the prospect of losing one’s mind.

Everything about these characters and locations is about the non-Hero’s Journey, as it were—life lived terminally inside the village compound, with no aspirations to anything other than a bit of comfort, and being drearily okay with that. It is possible to make an exciting movie about unexciting lives. But “Nebraska” is not that movie.

Movie poster for "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
Movie poster for "Nebraska." (Paramount Vantage)
‘Nebraska’ Director: Alexander Payne Starring: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Stacy Keach, Bob Odenkirk, Devin Ratray, Tim Driscoll Running Time: 1 hour, 55 minutes MPAA Rating: R Release Date: Nov. 15, 2013 Rating: 2 stars out of 5
Mark Jackson is the chief film critic for The Epoch Times. In addition to the world’s number-one storytelling vehicle—film, he enjoys martial arts, weightlifting, Harley-Davidsons, vision questing, rock-climbing, qigong, oil painting, and human rights activism. Mark earned a bachelor's degree in philosophy from Williams College, followed by a classical theater training, and has 20 years’ experience as a New York professional actor, working in theater, commercials, and television daytime dramas. He recently narrated the Epoch Times audiobook “How the Specter of Communism is Ruling Our World,” which is available on iTunes and Audible. Mr. Jackson is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic.
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