Nebraska
Director: Alexander Payne
Year Released: 2013
Rating: 1.5
Or, Isn't Dementia Quirky? An elderly man (Bruce Dern) - presumably in the process of developing Alzheimer's - thinks a letter he received in the mail from some Publisher's Clearinghouse entitles him to a million dollars (but what about that fine print?) and goes on a road trip with his passive son (Will Forte) from Billings, Montana to Lincoln, Nebraska to claim his 'prize.' A frivolous concept is milked in order to develop "Significant Moments" (a son bonding with his father, a father 'settling old scores') and the sense of cheap sentimentality that runs through it is rather odious. Payne's disdain for the Midwest he grew up in is more than evident in his depiction of most of the citizens of Dern's old home town: sitting around listening to bad karaoke, begging for money, mugging people.
