This Oscar bait movie about a woman living in her van and moving from job to job is every bit as good as Jack and I anticipated. Frances McDormand may earn a third statue as Fern in this understated masterpiece. David Strathairn, as Dave, is one of only five actors not playing themselves. Notable among the real nomads are Linda May, Swankie, and Bob Wells. Tay Strathairn makes a cameo playing his father's son James.
Chloé Zhao directs and adapted the screenplay from Jessica Bruder's 2017 book which was in turn fleshed out from her Harper's Magazine 2014 article, The End of Retirement, which you can read here. Bruder began her study with real occurrences and real people and Zhao added Fern and Dave and their families.
The lovely soundtrack, "featuring music of" Ludovico Einaudi, can be streamed on Apple Music and Spotify.
Director of photography Joshua James Richards gives us glorious vistas, huge warehouses, and the cramped quarters of Fern and her comrades, shot in Arizona, California, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Dakota. Be sure to watch the movie in a room that is properly darkened, so as to appreciate the night scenes.
To take a deeper dive, as I did, into the lives of these folks, read this article from Esquire magazine.
McDormand was last blogged for Isle of Dogs and Einaudi for The Intouchables. After I wrote about Strathairn for Temple Grandin, I saw him in the ensemble cast of Lincoln and eight episodes of Billions, among his many credits. This is the third feature for Zhao and Richards (working together on all).
Rotten Tomatoes' critics are settled in their seats, averaging 95%, while its audiences are a bit restless, coming in at 78. The critics' acclaim is backed by lots of nominations and awards, some of which I've listed on my awards page, sorted by title. I keep this list to decide what to watch next in awards season.
We watched it last week on Hulu and loved it.
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