MovieChat Forums > Nebraska (2014) Discussion > As a rural Nebraska native...

As a rural Nebraska native...

posted 11 years ago by onhusk
54 replies | jump to latest

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.

[–] BillK-5 11 years ago

This is an incredibly accurate portrayal of what it's like in the rural midwest; I feel like I could name at least a half dozen people who are carbon copies of each of the Hawthorne residents, as well as David's parents.

Those who think they're exaggerations must not have been home lately. :-)

[–] soybomb 11 years ago

I'm not from Nebraska, but from rural West Virginia, and this movie felt like an exaggerated cliche to me. Possibly all of these things are true ("Like hell you are!", how long it took to drive, etc.), but it distanced me from the movie. Maybe this movie is meant for people who are from Nebraska, which is fine. But the script felt a bit like a student film to me.

[–] creegah-3 11 years ago

Ever see "The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia"? Now SFU.

God might, I won't.
-JCVD

[–] danmcn61-1 10 years ago

I agree completely, thank you! I'm a native of Montana and the scenes that were shot in Billings were so incredibly accurate as well. The people who live their lives in the Rockies and the Great Plains of the west don't have the rapid fire, manic energy of New Yorkers or the incessant self-promotion of Californians,as they are mostly quiet, friendly, uninterested in discussing uncomfortable subjects, and always willing to lend a hand to an old friend. My people were always obsessed with cars and how long it takes to drive somewhere (a Montana traffic jam means waiting at a stop light for 6 minutes) and the wide-open spaces and incessant wind just makes you......quiet. Of course, almost everyone drinks, but so what? Like Woody said "Beer ain't drinking" so it's OK.

[–] bbehymer2005 10 years ago

As a rural Kansas native, I concur.

[–] Professor59 10 years ago

I used to "vacation" in rural Iowa when I was dating that girl. Just replace the wheat with pig farms and it's just about the same.

No young people anywhere - they all left for the big city ASAP. One difference was all the squabbling, though. Everyone was super polite, at least to your face.

[–] rkhen 10 years ago

I'll tell you what else, too: I grew up in a logging town in Western Washington, and this movie is exactly like there, too. OK, the landscape is radically different (but not different from Eastern Washington), but the human geography is _exact_. I saw several people I recognized, and the interiors could have been anywhere in my home county.

[–] TRhett 10 years ago

I remember reading a critic commenting about how well-cast it was with "authentic faces." Obviously, that critic was right.