A to Z Challenge 2020 - N

Nebraska (2013)
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Will Forte, Bruce Dern
Brief Thoughts: Will Forte is somehow an underrated talent, but I guess it’s always going to be difficult for the majority of Saturday Night Live alum to have breakout careers (it took Will Ferrell years to reach that point, and he seemed like a given from the start, but he’s also an object lesson in finding that one perfect role, in his case the aging frat boy in Old School, to contextualize himself to mass audiences). In Forte’s case, he found it, oddly enough, in a drama, but I guess it was too confusing. I mean, do you keep doing dramas at that point or do you go back to the comedies that were already not working? So that explains what happened to him, unfortunately. Nebraska is an affecting story about an aging father (Bruce Dern) who becomes convinced he’s won the lottery. Anyone else would have relentlessly mocked him, but Alexander Payne instead crafts his story around the son (Forte) who does everything possible to help preserve his dignity. Anyone with aging parents will appreciate the effort.

Now You See Me 2 (2016)
Director: John M. Chu
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Lizzy Caplan, Daniel Radcliffe, Mark Ruffalo, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine
Brief Thoughts: I haven’t gotten around to seeing the first one, but I figured Daniel Radcliffe’s tongue-in-cheek casting in the second was reason enough to catch that one. The results are of course slick heist magic with a fun cast. The only possible complaint would be how easily Lizzy Caplan is accepted into the close-knit Horsemen family. If they played their cards right (heh) they could expand this into a whole franchise, Fast & Furious style. And c’mon, the next one would obviously have to be entitled Now You See 3.