A good example of a typical art house film: More of an impression (highly inaccurate) than a reality. I take no personal offense at this depiction of my old home state (which, with the exception of the road sign at the end, was shot in Canada, not Nebraska) but the lack of any real basis in "reality" makes any "impressions" which the filmmakers are trying to impart into just a jumbled mess of stereotypical bleak landscapes and lost souls right out of central casting.
And where does this story actually take place? If it's some small town as the movie description indicates, then it's unlike any small town I've ever seen ANYWHERE, let alone just Nebraska. Too many stoplights, not enough churches. It more likely supposedly takes place in Lincoln, based on the fact that the fictional "University of Southern Nebraska" is located there (based very closely on the real University of Nebraska) whose football team is going to the Fiesta Bowl (as the real NU football team has many times). So, if this is Lincoln (a vibrant 330K+ population college town), it can't be called a "small town." Maybe we're on the far outskirts of town? Maybe Dystopia, Nebraska? That seems more like what the filmmakers were intending. But the lack of grounding in any amount of reality just causes the intended effect to be completely lost.
I could go on and on about the Judy Garland wannabe, the befuddled old guy , the bitter, faded-glory jock, the destitute mother, et al., but this film isn't worth my time. You've seen them all or very similar in countless other movies.
This film amounts to almost nothing of intellectual or artistic value. A much better (and infinitely more interesting) slice of quirky small-town life anywhere, not just in Nebraska, is Alexander Payne's eponymous "Nebraska." It's head-and-shoulders above this mess of a movie.
And where does this story actually take place? If it's some small town as the movie description indicates, then it's unlike any small town I've ever seen ANYWHERE, let alone just Nebraska. Too many stoplights, not enough churches. It more likely supposedly takes place in Lincoln, based on the fact that the fictional "University of Southern Nebraska" is located there (based very closely on the real University of Nebraska) whose football team is going to the Fiesta Bowl (as the real NU football team has many times). So, if this is Lincoln (a vibrant 330K+ population college town), it can't be called a "small town." Maybe we're on the far outskirts of town? Maybe Dystopia, Nebraska? That seems more like what the filmmakers were intending. But the lack of grounding in any amount of reality just causes the intended effect to be completely lost.
I could go on and on about the Judy Garland wannabe, the befuddled old guy , the bitter, faded-glory jock, the destitute mother, et al., but this film isn't worth my time. You've seen them all or very similar in countless other movies.
This film amounts to almost nothing of intellectual or artistic value. A much better (and infinitely more interesting) slice of quirky small-town life anywhere, not just in Nebraska, is Alexander Payne's eponymous "Nebraska." It's head-and-shoulders above this mess of a movie.