Film / Nebraska!

Nebraska is a 2013 dramedy directed by Alexander Payne staring Bruce Dern and Will Forte, co-starring Stacy Keach, Bob Odenkirk and June Squibb.

Woody Grant (Dern) is an elderly man with mild, early stage dementia, who gets a sweepstakes letter in the mail telling him he's won a million dollars, which is an obvious front to sell people magazine subscriptions. Ignoring this and the advice of his wife Kate and sons David and Ross, he's determined to get his prize from the office in Lincoln, Nebraska. After catching his dad attempting to walk to Nebraska from Montana several times, David decides to drive him to the destination to prevent a further incident. The two end up stopping in Woody's hometown of Hawthorne on the way there after Woody gets a head injury, and word soon spreads of Woody's supposed windfall while the two take a trip down memory lane.

Both Dern and Squibb were nominated for Golden Globes and Academy Awards, for Best Actor/Supporting Actress respectively.

Not to be confused with the 1979 novel Nebraska!.

Tropes:

• The Alcoholic:
  • Woody has had a drinking problem for most of his life. David knew about it when he was still a young boy and would empty out his father's hidden liquor bottles. Some of this is apparently due to unresolved trauma over getting shot down during the Korean War, something he hid from his sons. According to the owner of the Hawthorne Republican, most of the men in Hawthorne drink excessively because there's nothing else to do.
  • David himself went teetotal due to difficulty with alcohol, though he allows Woody to convince him to have some drinks again, which David obviously regrets. Both David and Woody were introduced to beer as children by family tradition.
• Brutal Honesty: Woody answers all of David's questions — in full.
• Butt-Monkey: Woody and David can qualify.
• Cassandra Truth: The rest of Woody's family keeps insisting that he didn't get a big prize, but nobody believes them until they see the sweepstakes letter personally.
• Cringe Comedy: Most of the movie can be summed up as one big, awkward moment, simply because of the clashing personalities.
• Deliberately Monochrome: The movie being in black and white adds to the bleak, somber feel of it all.
• Determinator: Nothing will stop Woody from going to Lincoln to get his million dollars, no matter how many people tell him it's a scam.
• Deuteragonist: David and Woody are equally important for the movie's plot.
• Dirty Old Woman: Kate has shades of this, calling Woody's dead sister a whore and flashing the tombstone of an ex-boyfriend.
• invokedDude, Not Funny!: While the entire bar is laughing when Ed reads Woody's sweepstakes "prize" out loud, everyone stops when Woody solemnly retrieves it - even Ed is no longer wearing a smile when he sees how reverently Woody's treating that slip of paper. And then David slugs him over it.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: Woody, quite obviously, doesn't get the million. However, David makes it up to him by getting him the only two things he wanted: a new truck (albeit a used one that's like new and just has his name on the title, since Woody can't drive) and an air compressor. David also lets him drive it down the main street of Hawthorne, giving everyone there the impression he won the money after all.
• Easily Forgiven: David discovers through Ed Pegram that his father cheated on his mother and almost left her for another woman, but he seems to just leave it alone.
• Everyone Has Standards: Ed Pegram leads a derisive crowd of bar rats in laughing at Woody behind his back. But when Woody arrives and makes a long, silent, and doddering walk over to retrieve the letter, everyone seems to instantly realize that they've been mocking a poor old man who didn't deserve it. Even Ed's smirk quickly wilts.
• Extreme Doormat: Woody, according to his own wife.
  Kate: He couldn't say no to anybody, and it ruined him.
• False Friend: Ed Pegram is happy to see Woody again, but the moment he hears of Woody's supposed windfall, he instantly converts into an opportunistic mooch, and he gets worse from there.
• Get Out!: David calmly tells Ed to get out of their booth of the bar after he reveals Woody had an affair before David was born but after Ross was and that he stopped it in an attempt to get some of Woody's non-existent money. Though what pushed it over the edge was Ed calling Kate a bitch.
• Henpecked Husband: If everyone else's point of view is reliable, Woody is this, and given his relative quiet demeanor even when she insults his deceased family right in front of him, it's probably accurate.
• Hilarity Ensues: The family passes by Ed Pegram's place, and the boys decide to get back their father's air-compressor.
• I Was Quite a Looker: Kate takes pride in being one of the most sought-after women in Hawthorne growing up.
• Ironic Echo: The "Prize Winner" hat is a non-verbal example. When we first see Woody wearing it, it comes across as a cruel mockery of his defeat after not winning the sweepstakes. A few scenes later, it comes across as triumphant as he shows off his "winnings" to everyone back in Hawthorne.
• Jerkass:
  • David's cousins Cole and Bart, two ex-cons (one of which sexually assaulted a woman) who laugh incessantly at how long David took to get to Hawthorne, try to weasel their way into getting Woody's winnings, and later rob him of his sweepstakes letter and then insult David for claiming to have a million dollars after they themselves scoffed at the truth when Woody's family repeatedly told them.
  • Ed Pegram, who tries to collect on Woody's money, threatening legal action and then later confronts Woody himself. He brags how he put a stop to Woody's affair as some sort of badge of honor and later reads Woody's letter aloud to a crowd of people for his own amusement.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold:
  • Kate truly does care for Woody as shown in two scenes: when she tells off some members of his family trying to shake him down for money by proxy and when she kisses his forehead in the hospital after he ends up there again late in the film.
  • Woody himself also qualifies, as Peggy mentions that he'd always do a favor for anyone that asked. When David mentions Ed Pegram wanting a slice of the prize-money, Woody cheerfully responds that he'd be happy to loan Ed all the money he's got on him if he's hard up. Kate herself reinforces this point later. Woody also states that the reason he wants the million dollars so much is so he could leave something for his sons when he dies.
• Know When to Fold 'Em: The impetus of the movie is David deciding to just take his dad out to the sweepstakes headquarters to get it done with, as Woody was too stubborn for any other option to be viable.
• Mood Whiplash: In-Universe. The Blinker bar is hooting with laughter at Woody for believing a sweepstakes letter, but when he arrives in person to retrieve it, the mood quickly turns awkward and embarrassed.
• Nice Guy: One resident of Hawthorne is genuinely happy for Woody "winning" the sweepstakes and never asks for a dime.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: Near the end of their stay in Hawthorne, David and Woody are "mugged" by Cole and Bart wearing ski-masks, but their usual coats.
• The Place: Nebraska, the location of the sweepstakes office and destination of the road trip.
• Precision F-Strike: Kate delivers a rather cathartic one to the relatives hounding her and Dave for a cut of Woody's money.
• Road Trip Plot: For the first third or so. After Woody's head injury most of the action takes place in Hawthorne.
• Running Gag:
  • Woody pissing on the side of the road.
  • "How long'd it take to drive from Billings?"
• Scatterbrained Senior: Alternately played for laughs and drama with Woody, including his fixation on getting to Lincoln to claim his "winnings".
• Screw Politeness, I'm a Senior!: Kate, though it's implied she's been this blunt for as long as Woody has known her.
• Small Town Boredom: Hawthorne is a small town where the men all turn to drinking because there's nothing better to do. David and Ross recall a relative who has been entertaining himself by watching the road outside his house since they were children.
• Super Gullible: Played for Drama, as Woody is absolutely convinced that he is a "Big Winner" like the sweepstakes letter promises.
  Receptionist: Does he have Alzheimer's?
  David: No, he just believes what people tell him.
• Those Two Guys: Cole and Bart, David's cousins, are always seen together.
• Tranquil Fury: Seen when David discovers Ed Peagram reading the stolen sweepstakes letter to other patrons in the bar, mocking Woody. David calmly approaches Ed as his father takes back the letter, turns to walk away, thinks twice, turns around, and clocks Ed in the face, all without saying a word.
• Warts and All: Kate doesn't sugarcoat a single opinion she has for Woody's deceased relatives.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: Though the film is quite good at wrapping up a lot of seemingly unrelated subplots and character details in its final scenes, we never do find out what happens with David and his ex-girlfriend Noel.
• Wimp Fight: The minor scuffle between Ross and Bart counts as one, as neither actually lands a blow before Kate breaks it up.