Cork Film Festival provides surprises and awards aplenty
The festival opened with Sideways director Alexander Payne’s road movie Nebraska. The film stars Hollywood veteran Bruce Dern as Woody Grant, an alcoholic curmudgeon who sets off to walk from Montana to Nebraska to collect the million dollars he believes he has won in a draw. Fortunately, his son David, played by comedian Will Forte, agrees to drive him instead. En route, David learns more about his father’s experiences in the war. They are also joined by Woody’s wife — and David’s mother — Kate, played with earthy relish by June Squibb. If Nebraska — shot in black and white — is sometimes sentimental, it does also milk some deliciously dark humour from Woody’s quest.
