Nomadland

When people put themselves in vulnerable positions, bad things can happen. This is a human interaction movie which shows us believable people, meeting and gaining sparks from one another. Francis McDormand has become a premier actress. She's not attractive in a movie star sense, but she has one of the most expressive faces I've ever seen in film. Granted, we don't get to see the harsh side of the equation, which would include theft, intimidation, physical harm, and mental illness. Nevertheless, I found myself transfixed. She worked so hard and her spirit was seldom defeated. How can people be giving this a one. It tells me how jaded we have become. I guess there is a faction that feels the need to take down something that is hyped as if they have some power in their shortsightedness. I'm not saying it is a perfect movie but to say it is paint drying? I guess there weren't enough superheroes or aliens in it.

This is cinematic patience, a bare and beautifully drawn out experience that paces and feels exactly like the lives and experiences it portrays. The landscapes are stunning, the camerawork intimate and always thoughtful with its choices. The movie makes subtle, deliberate gestures, and it all culminates into something really special. Movies so plot-thin always must walk the careful border of disinterest - but honestly I could've watched another hour of this stuff and never get bored. It's hypnotizing in its own unique way, and I haven't really seen anything quite like it. (This is the vibe I wish Sean Penn's Into the Wild could've captured).

8.5/10

I love the non sequiturs of Kelly Reichardt, so I'm fine with not much happening in a movie. I don't need bushels of plot.

But, despite, McDormand's brave contribution, I didn't think director Zhao hit the mark. For me, the pro actors didn't quite mesh with the real folks.

You could run the movie in reverse, it wouldn't make that much difference, such is its neutral tone and low affect throughout.

A drifter movie that just drifts. Nowhere near as good as American Honey, which is holding up as one of the great American drifter movies of this century or the last.

I believe that all bad ratings are given by people who just never traveled and did not feel these subtle details that are shown in the film. The film shows very accurately and vitally the fact that the spirit of adventurism and freedom lives inside the main character. There are no secret meanings here, even dialogues from different people about the philosophy of life are just part of the ordinary life of any person. Deep down, each person can decide and control the balance of their future and the right to make mistakes.

My thoughts on this film: I can see how this movie is not for everyone, but I enjoyed it. I think, if you have even a remote interest in a nomad lifestyle, life on the road, extended road trips in campervans, then you would like this movie. It certainly shines a spotlight on a very small and unexplored part of society. There are actually people out there, in this day and age, who live in vans and travel around, working in different places. Who knew? And how exiting! And how lonely and intriguing. Why would someone do this? I get it, I'm adventurous, but how desolate and maybe even a little depressing. That lifestyle is certainly not for the faint of heart. You have to wonder about the mental health of some of these people, but that's in all walks of life, I suppose. And I think, in a way, that a lot of nomads are scarred in some way, and that's why they keep moving, keep trying to find themselves or something.

And then there's the protagonist. Who is she and why doesn't she let people get too close to her? My only really complaint about her character is that they could have given her a little more personality.

Ah, the cinematography. Simply stunning.

The ending was less than satisfying.

Overall, I think it was a lovely movie. I certainly thought about it for a long time afterwards. I don't feel it was best picture award-worthy, but I'm not an Academy member, so I've no say in the matter. A very solid 7 out of 10 IMDB stars from me.