Movie · 2013 · Drama, Adventure · 1h 55m · R · English
Curator score: 8.5/10 (234.6K ratings)
Life's not about winning or losing. It's about how you get there in the end.
Overview
An aging, booze-addled father takes a trip from Montana to Nebraska with his estranged son in order to claim what he believes to be a million-dollar sweepstakes prize.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.5/10
IMDb: 7.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.98/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Metacritic: 86
TMDB: 7.5/10
Director
Alexander Payne
Production
Echo Lake Entertainment, Bona Fide Productions
Cast
Bruce Dern, Will Forte, June Squibb, Bob Odenkirk, Stacy Keach, Mary Louise Wilson, Rance Howard, Tim Driscoll, Devin Ratray, Angela McEwan, Glendora Stitt, Elizabeth Moore, Kevin Kunkel, Dennis McCoig, Ronald Vosta, Missy Doty, John Reynolds, Jeffrey Yosten, Neal Freudenberg, Eula Freudenberg
Where to watch
fuboTV, Paramount Plus Premium, Paramount Plus Essential, MGM Plus
Curator Review
Verdict
A tender, funny, and quietly devastating road movie about aging, delusion, and the fragile ways families try to reconnect. Its black-and-white austerity and deadpan humor give the story a lived-in melancholy that lingers.
Best for
viewers who like bittersweet family dramas
fans of understated road movies
people drawn to aging-and-regret stories
audiences who appreciate dry humor mixed with sadness
Skip if
you want fast pacing or big plot twists
you dislike subdued, observational storytelling
you prefer sentimental movies that spell everything out
Overview
Nebraska is one of those films that looks small until you realize how much it’s carrying. Alexander Payne turns a simple premise into a moving study of dignity, disappointment, and the strange persistence of hope, even when hope is obviously foolish. The black-and-white photography strips the Midwest down to its bones, making every diner, highway, and storefront feel both ordinary and elegiac.
Worth noting
What keeps the film from sinking into pure sadness is its comic timing and its affection for human absurdity. Bruce Dern gives the father a weathered, stubborn gravity, while Will Forte plays the son with a beautifully restrained decency that never turns him into a saint. June Squibb’s scenes add a sharp, bracing energy that helps the movie breathe.
Bottom line
The result is a road trip film where the destination matters less than the emotional detour. It’s funny in a dry, almost painful way, but the final feeling is one of compassion: for failed dreams, for aging parents, and for the awkward, unfinished business of loving people who are hard to love.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Karsten (3.5★) · 821 likes
technically lynchian (the straight story)
Matt Singer (4★) · 798 likes
Doing my best to avoid any and all writing about this film before I could finally see it, all I really knew about it was what I'd seen floating through my Twitter feed: mostly that Payne supposedly condescends to Midwesterners, hates his characters, etc.
Maybe I'm just a jerk too, I don't know. But I didn't get that at all. What I got was a very tender and sad father-son story. Frankly, this felt less like a "Midwestern" movie to… more
Ryan Daniel (5★) · 513 likes
“Does he have Alzheimer's?”“He just believes stuff that people tell him.”
This truly is one of the best movies of the last decade. It’s heart breaking and heart warming all in one, and the story is beautiful. All of the lead performances are done with such subtlety but also with so much passion, especially Bruce Dern. And of course, the subtle (but strong) camerawork and the impressive score flow so seamlessly together and give this movie a vibe that puts it over the top for me.
Also featuring one of the most satisfying punches I’ve ever seen in a movie.
Bruno Youn (4★) · 328 likes
Alexander Payne always injects a great dose of humor in his films and also thoroughly investigates the dramatic aspect of the main characters and their backgrounds. Nebraska certainly wasn't an exception and with its black and white format, it was a delightful, constantly funny and touching film. As usual, he manages to get the best efforts from the cast and even Will Forte, who is mostly known from his comedic work, gave a solid performance in a more serious role.… more Alexander Payne always injects a great dose of humor in his films and also thoroughly investigates the dramatic aspect of the main characters and their backgrounds. Nebraska certainly wasn't an exception and with its black and white format, it was a delightful, constantly funny and touching film. As usual, he manages to get the best efforts from the cast and even Will Forte, who is mostly known from his comedic work, gave a solid performance in a more serious role.… more
Matthew Christman (4★) · 291 likes
"He just believes what people tell him." "That's too bad."
I understand why Alexander Payne fans have been lukewarm on this movie, while Payne skeptics have embraced it. There's the usual Payne canvas of strip-mall banality and submerged existential horror, but Nebraska lacks the exaggerated comedic grotesquerie that makes his films either rancid or hilarious, depending on the viewer.
It's definitely the right choice. Nebraska covers a lot of the same thematic territory as About Schmidt; the horrors of aging,… more