As a rural Nebraska native...
I can't explain to you how accurate this film was. Dern's wife could've been a carbon copy of my mother. Some of the ways she phrased things were exactly like my mom would. It was uncanny. Unlike Will Forte's character, I lived in my small, decaying town until college (when I went to college in Lincoln). Some shared experiences of mine:
-Discussion about how long it took me to drive home
-The questions about what car I drove
-"Like hell you are!"
-Wandering through an abandoned farmhouse, we used to do this as kids to find places to get drunk and to scare ourselves for fun
-Uncomfortable talks with people who used to date my parents
-The town paper looked exactly like mine, outside and in and it was also run by an old couple
-The lack of youth! This was spot on. Most of rural Nebraska is leaving because there aren't any jobs, nor anything to do. When I go home over holidays, my friends and I go to the bar (not bars, we only have one) and the age range is about 23-30 (people back for the holidays) and 60+.
-Dislike of foreign automobiles
I saw it with some Californians and there were so many other jokes that I couldn't explain to my friends. While I know this movie is polarizing, I can't help but laud Alexander Payne, who I oft criticize, for really capturing rural Nebraska.