Nebraska is a well made depressing film about an alcoholic elder not feeling ready to just settle for death to come get him and the infinite love of one of his sons who decides to carry on with his delusional fantasy once he concludes that no one can make his father understand that words —even written ones– have no value whatsoever, nowadays.
The movie also explores how much simpler and unspoken things were among couples, fifty plus years ago. No questions asked, no moods explained, no futures discussed, no romantic nonsense, no major decisions to be made. Things just happened. Marrying was the only approved way to have sex, so marriage it was! Kids were the logical consequence of having sex. Work was the only way to support it all. Life itself was a matter of being lucky… or not! Some made it, some simply died. Just like that. Life had nothing much to offer other than knowing what was going on in everybody’s lives and the occasional gathering with your awkward family to watch a football game. No one stood up in that town nor made it big, so gossip and delusions were easy to buy, got cheered on and would definitely awaken all sorts of responses on these otherwise uneventful townsmen.