Million Dollar Man: Bruce Dern’s performance makes Nebraska

There comes a time when children find themselves taking on some of the roles of parent to their own parents. That’s at the heart of Nebraska, the new drama from Alexander Payne (Sideways, About Schmidt, The Descendants). Filmed in black-and-white and set in the starker parts of Montana and Nebraska, the film deals with family turmoil, coming to terms with leading less than exceptional lives and the indignities and annoyances of old age. They’re not sexy topics and the storyline is a bit thin, but thanks to several fine acting performances the movie more or less works.

The film opens with a shot of Woody (Bruce Dern) stumbling down the freeway. After a police officer concerned about safety picks up the obstinate old man, his son David (Will Forte) has to retrieve dad from the police station. Turns out, Woody was attempting to walk from his Billings home to Lincoln to claim what can only be a bogus million dollar prize with a hokey “winning” certificate he received in the mail. Since he couldn’t drive and his wife Kate (June Squibb) wasn’t going to take him, he decided to walk. Not an easy task for a decrepit old lifelong alcoholic who, with his wild, unkempt hair, looks something like a depressed mad professor.

Both Dave and his brother Ross (Bob Odenkirk) try to talk Woody out of going to Lincoln but he won’t have it. Dave relents and offers to drive his dad. Along the way, they stop in the small town where Woody grew up. Once everyone there, including old pal Ed Pegram (Stacy Keach) gets wind that Woody might have come into some money, they want a piece of the action, creating an awkward situation for both father and son.

Dern’s performance here is incredible. He plays the spaced-out Woody perfectly and even elicits a good deal of sympathy, no easy task considering the guy basically communicates with a series of grunts and one- and two-word answers. And Forte is terrific as the son who desperately wants to connect with his dad, even though the guy is a bit of a bastard. Squibb plays the nagging wife perfectly too and delivers some of the movie’s best lines.

The colorless film reflects the disappointment and emptiness of its lead characters and the director is definitely going for the “landscape is a character,” perhaps in a little too obvious way. Still, Payne gets some great shots of wide-open plains and expansive skies. Yes, road movies are a dime dozen but Nebraska has a certain charm (and a strong cast) that make it stand out from the pack.