Nomadland, which can just as easily be referred to as FrancesMcdormandLand, has been slated as a top award pick for months (including Best Picture). But what do I think?
If you haven’t been keeping up, here’s what you need to know.
Nomadland follows Fern (Frances McDormand) who is put out of work when her town’s employer shuts down. After losing her husband, she finds solace by joining a community of people who live on the road out of trucks and RVs. These “nomads” are at the mercy of seasonal work and limited options. Many of whom are played by non-actors and shot through the documentary lens of Chloe Zhao.
The film captures a uniquely American story, one specific to the wake of the Great Recession.
While it is beautifully shot, features an unsurprisingly excellent performance, and is carefully crafted with curiosity, the mere thought of watching it again is a bore.
Nomadland is lyrical. Through imagery, longing stares into the void and an air of transcendence, it manages to do a lot without actually saying anything meaningful. Kind of like how the average person can read a beautiful poem, acknowledge that its’s beautiful, and then be completely unaffected by its beauty.
I’m not one to be bored during movies. Even slow-burning indie ones like 2017’s best picture “Moonlight” capture my attention. But this…this was a little hard for me. At one point Frances McDormand recites a Shakespeare sonnet…and just because she CAN doesn’t really mean she should.
Nomadland is like putting all the ingredients of a great stew (in this case a recipe for awards) into a well-oiled cast iron pot and letting it simmer on medium heat for 72 hours. Theoretically, this makes a homely broth of patient deliciousness. But instead, we get a pile of mush and not the delicious kind.
As a self-proclaimed snob, I should be all over this. The 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes speaks to how much I SHOULD be praising this film. But somehow all I can think about is how shallow awards season is. Even for a year as solid as 2020 (for movies), a generic faux-docudrama baits critics into a self-indulgent trance where they do nothing but rave at a piece of glorified misery-porn.
I went into this with an open mind, ready to accept the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus with proud allegiance. But unfortunately, I cannot.
Is it worth a watch? Yes. Will you genuinely like it? Iffy.
In summary, Nomadland left me with what can only be described through this emoticon;
Next week: Sound of Metal
