Nebraska

Alexander Payne shows that he has his acerbic side intact with this bittersweet comedy drama

After making us wonder if he has gone soft with the somewhat sentimental The Descendants, Alexander Payne shows that he has his acerbic side intact with this bittersweet comedy drama. Like About Schmidt and Sideways, Nebraska is a road movie and as in the former movie, the protagonist here is a dyspeptic elderly man. Woody Grant believes that he has won $1 million in a lottery and repeatedly tries to walk his way to Nebraska to collect his winnings despite his family members admonishing him and letting him know that it’s a scam. At one point, giving in to his doggedness, his second son David decides to indulge his whim and take him to Nebraska. And, during this 800-odd-mile journey, father and son (and the entire family, including Woody’s caustic wife Kate and eldest son Ross) must deal with people from the old man’s past, some affable and some plain greedy. It’s heart-warming and hard-hitting as its beautiful black and white cinematography.

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