Nebraska ****

A headstrong old man's determination to collect the million dollars promised in a magazine subscription offer sets this story of family, choices, and the taciturn inhabitants of the plains in motion. It's another take on fathers and cousins from the writer/director of "The Descendants," Alexander Payne, who returns to where he grew up in this movie.

Bruce Dern is Woody Grant, an aging and often confused resident of Montana with a history of drinking too much. One of his two sons, David (Will Forte) agrees to drive him to Nebraska to collect his "winnings." The road trip turns into a family reunion in the town where the boys grew up. Woody's wife and other son arrive, and David begins to discover things about his father's past he didn't know, or understood differently.

It's a bleak landscape, emphasized by black and white photography, and punctuated with sharply drawn characters who step out of the bounds of caricature just enough to give them a lifelike dimension in this comedy/drama. The humor, and there is plenty, grows organically from the characters and situations. Dern and Forte both deliver strong performances, especially Dern, who is sure to be recognized in award season.