10 Best Black-And-White Movies From The Last 25 Years

8. Nebraska

Nebraska is one of those films that probably didn't need to be shot in black and white. There's no particular reason for it, other than as a means in which director Alexander Payne can keep viewers at arm's length from his characters. The bleakness seems artificial at times, maybe because Bruce Dern does such an exceptional job of stepping into the role of bitter ol' curmudgeon that the added desolation from the cinematography feels too overwhelming. Still, despite the overall lack of warmth--and the woeful depictions of every American Midwesterner as either dumb, lazy, or entitled--Nebraska excels because of the father-son relationship at its gooey center. There's no amount of aesthetic overkill (underkill?) that can soil the scenes between Woody and his son (played by Will Forte, with more nuance than you might expect). It's fair to say that Payne's overly-simplified road trip story succeeds in spite of its grey exterior, though it's hard not to wonder what might have been different if he'd let some colors shine.