Nomadland Review

Nomadland

Dir: Chloé Zhao

Starring: Frances McDormand, David Strathairn, and Linda May

1hr 24min

 

Quartzsite, Arizona, with a population of fewer than 4,000 residents, is a blink-and-you-missed-it border city with a string of fast-food restaurants and gas stations just off Interstate 1o. In the summer months, Quartzsite is an almost deserted desert city with empty roads and some boarded-up shops in the Arizona heat. However, in the winter months, Quartzsite turns into a haven for RV travelers, swap meets, and various festivals found in big tents on open lots. 

 

Writer/director Chloé Zhao utilizes this location for a portion of her melancholy and mesmerizing film Nomadland. Quartzsite is a road trip stop for Fern, played with nuance and raw honesty by Frances McDormand, who has modified a van into a living space on wheels. During the winter holidays, Fern, working in an Amazon warehouse, travels to Quartzsite as a retreat from the cold weather. She encounters a group of nomads just like her, a group of resilient and resourceful people living on the margins, some by choice and some because of necessity. 

 

Fern is still learning the lifestyle, and her venture to a place with like-minded people helps her understand how to maintain freedom while staying safe. She meets Dave (David Strathairn), and the two strike up a friendship, sharing experiences from their lives before they pulled the roots. Fern finds peace in the solitary moments of her life, keeping those who may want to help at arm's length. Even old friends, who knew Fern before her husband died and before she lost her job in the town she lived in, are only provided short visits and the most basic forms of information. Fern is either unable or unwilling to connect with those around her; the answers are rarely provided easily in Nomadland.

 

Chloé Zhao's minimalistic approach to the film composes some affecting emotional moments centering on isolation, both the beautiful moments someone can find in a place not consistently walked through and the heartbreaking moments when the world begs a person for some companionship. Nomadland embraces loneliness that echoes more pertinent amid a pandemic.

 

Except for Frances McDormand and David Strathairn, Nomadland is supported by nonprofessional actors. These real people aren't playing a role in a film but live the experience the story is trying to explore; this makesNomadland so compelling. They add authenticity, so much that the viewer sinks deeper into the meditative rhythm Zhao narrates with the meandering yet contemplative story structure. 

 

McDormand vanishes into the role. It's a performance that feels overly composed initially, as Fern is committing to the transient lifestyle. But as Fern grows more comfortable, so does McDormand in crafting the version. By the end of the film, it doesn't feel like an act or a routine at all. 

 

Chloé Zhao continues to grow as a remarkable storyteller, composing films that delve deeply into complicated characters' emotions and feelings without straightforward questions or easy answers. Instead, her films wander and roam to places that force analysis and engage a sense of understanding. Nomadland builds and unfolds beautifully, painting a portrait of independence and peace found in a solitary existence. 

 

Monte's Rating

4.25 out of 5.00

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Review

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

Dir: Martin McDonagh

Starring: Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sam Rockwell, Caleb Landry Jones, Kerry Condon, Abbie Cornish, Peter Dinklage, John Hawkes, Clarke Peters, and Samara Weaving

Drive along any busy freeway in the city and you are bound to see advertisement billboards glowing throughout the day. Everything from political commentaries to sporting events to local attorneys get the opportunity to influence and inform their message on your drive through the city.

Travel any stretch of highway in America and billboards can compose a welcome sign of humanity after long stretches of paved asphalt on desolate highways. In director Martin McDonagh’s somber, tragic, and comedic film “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”, billboards play the vessel of emotion for a mother still grieving, still angry.

Three bright red billboards with bold black font proclaim a message to a local sheriff (Woody Harrelson) concerning the unsolved death of a young girl violently murdered in the nearby small town. The person responsible for this message is the young girl’s mother Mildred (Frances McDormand) who is using this advertising tactic to bring awareness, and provoke a response, from the police department.

Mr. McDonagh utilizes these billboards as a device to introduce a complicated story about human interaction, specifically how people react when faced with emotions they don’t want to confront or are afraid to confront. Mr. McDonagh, a playwright turned filmmaker, paints his story with characters easily distinguishable but working towards some kind of transformation. Yet, you can feel that this transformation isn’t going to be so simply achieved. Mildred, beneath the hardened, sharp tongued demeanor is still grieving and affected not only by the death of her daughter but also the life she has lived thus far and by the town she has planted roots in. The director plays with these aspects, molding a narrative that is peaked with sadness and cruelty but also undercut with biting comedy that comes as strong and harsh as the message emblazoned on the billboards. Mr. McDonagh articulates a message concerning the nature of humanity, both the redemptive and condemned qualities, through scenes of violence, within moments of tragedy, and beneath the unexpected laughs.

“Three Billboards” doesn’t work without a committed cast. Leading the charge is an exceptional performance by Frances McDormand. Her portrayal of Mildred is fiery and confident, filled with passion and heartache. Her story is a portrait of what grief has turned her in to, of how it has forever changed her. Some of Ms. McDormand’s best scenes come opposite the town sheriff played by Woody Harrelson, who composes a character struggling with more than a few obstacles in his life. Mr. Harrelson is terrific in the role. The always reliable Sam Rockwell makes an appearance here too, playing the evolving antagonist. Mr. Rockwell excels at this kind of role, making larger than life characters have subtle poignancy.

Mr. McDonagh is a talented filmmaker with a keen eye for drama and a strong sense of humor. “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” can be an emotional journey at times, but it’s also undeniably fascinating watching such interesting characters traverse the narrative terrain proposed here.

Monte’s Rating

4.50 out of 5.00