A comedy drama from the director of Sideways and The Descendants, Alexander Payne has formed a niche for himself on the independent movie circuit with touching yet funny dramas. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival where Bruce Dern won the Best Actor award for his portrayal of grumpy father Woody.
Woody Grant (Dern) is a retired married man living in small town Missouri, he is an alcoholic who is starting to suffer from Alzheimers. He receives a letter from a marketing company saying he has won $1 million but believes the scam letter is real so decides to walk to Nebraska rather than trust the postal service with his money. After being picked up by the police walking down a freeway his son, David (Will Forte) decides to drive him there as an opportunity to spend more time with him and get away from his own drab existence.
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| Woody Grant (Bruce Dern) and David Grant (Will Forte) |
The story itself isn't as touching and dramatic as you would think, you seem to expect a grand finale as the family finally confronts its problems and work towards a solution but you are left quite disappointed. The film generally meanders along through scenes which add very little to the plot and seem rather superfluous, its not a boring or long film but at times it seems very directionless which is ironic for what is essentially a road movie. The final scenes live up to the rest of the film as it seems again they were unsure how the film should end.
In terms of realism its a grim look into middle-America with few people having well paid or meaningful jobs as they all just scrape by from month to month dreaming of the big payoff that Woody might be getting to get away from it all. All the family members and friends of Woody come out of the woodwork, excuse the pun, to claim that Woody should set things right for money previously owed due to his drinking.
Bruce Dern is impressive although unlikeable as the slow and strong willed Woody whilst Will Forte who is more accustomed to comedies is the sweet character that enables Woody's behaviour at times. The best role is saved for June Squibb as Woody's wife Kate who gets most of the funny lines in the script which she delivers with a shocking tone. Its a nice easy film to watch but it isn't one that will live long in the memory like some of Payne's previous work.
2/4 Not quite dramatic or funny enough to live up Payne's previous films
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