Appeals More to Those That Can Relate

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand I love Middle Americans, especially how kind and friendly most of them are. Not all of them are like that obviously, as this film depicts, but generally I find less of the cynicism and distrust that you feel in the city.

On the other hand, I like states that have mountains, trees, and oceans.

That's weird, all I see from people from "rural" America is their complaining about so-and-so being an inaccurate portrayal of this and that, completely missing the point all the while.

I don't see that connection at all. I enjoyed the film thoroughly -- I also rated it 8/10 -- but I've lived my entire life in the city. As StarskyandChinaHutch pointed out, there are threads on the forum where people who grew up in the rural Midwest in general or Nebraska in particular take exception to the portrayal of rural Nebraska in this film.

To me, the story operates on a more subtle level than most, with the characters and plot building slowly yet (to me) engagingly over the course of the film. If I was going to make an unsubstantiated general statement about who tends to like the film, I'd say it's more likely to be what I'll call patient viewers, who likely tend to be older viewers with a more diverse viewing history (and this is NOT a theory that older viewers would tend to like the film more because they can relate to the older characters). But I also bet there are younger viewers who like the film, and as I said, that is totally unsubstantiated.

Woody and his wife reminded me so much of my in-laws, minus the dementia and drinking part.

Even my father-in-law saw the resemblance between him and his wife and Woody and his wife!

I'm a born and raised city girl (Los Angeles)and I could easily relate to this movie. I can see why younger people who've not yet experienced anything significant, wouldn't understand the movie. I don't feel it has anything to do with the environment.

I liked the film in large part because I am from Iowa and had family living in Lincoln. It hit home quite often.

I can see the men of my family crowded into the living room watching TV, an old one or two falling asleep, cousins talking cars, bickering, mostly no one looking or sounding overly bright.

The quarreling over who owed who money seemed more than real. It doesn't depict rural people all that favorably but I still love some of those aunts and uncles now that they are gone....maybe more so because they are gone.

My significant other liked the film too, was born and reared in California around Stanford. The film has a broader audience I think.

Really, thats what youre taking away from this movie, rural america? I think what most people who relate to the movie relate to is having an alcoholic father or dealing with parents dementia, or growing old.

I don't think you're totally wrong as such, but I still think you might be a little bit sweeping. I'm from southern England, born and raised in London, now living in a largish town not that far outside London. I've certainly not been in rural America; and rural here is probably far from what's rural in the US, at least in scale. I certainly don't fall into your trends of those who appreciate this film. However, I feel that the story is so human that it's hard not to relate to it in some way, as long as you open up and try to look deeper, try to look beyond your own limitations. I found it a really lovely film, really emotionally engaging. It was nice to enjoy a story that's so far from my own experiences. But then, there was something innate within the story that I could relate to.