History YMMV / Nebraska

* MoralEventHorizon: It is bad enough when Ed Pegram threatens to sue Woody's family for a share of the non-existent prize money and [[spoiler: revealing Woody's infidelity as backup that he's "owed" but publicly humiliating the doddering old man when the truth comes out is despicable]].

* TearJerker: The premise itself is bad enough - an old man, obviously suffering from some mild dementia, gets so fixated on the idea that he was the "Big Winner!" of a sweepstakes that he memorized the form, much to his wife's surprise.

--->'''Woody''': It's for you boys, I wanted to leave you something.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Woody really so far gone due to the early stages of dementia that he actually believes that he's won the sweepstakes, or at some level is he of enough sound mind to realize that there is no million dollar prize but that pretending that there is gives him something to look forward to and live for, however illusory? Woody's nonplussed reaction to the clerk at the office informing him that he didn't win anything, and his earlier conversation with David suggests that it's the latter.

* HilariousInHindsight: In this movie, Creator/BobOdenkirk plays a character living in Nebraska in a film where everything is DeliberatelyMonochrome. Two years later, Odenkirk would return to his StarMakingRole of Saul Goodman in [[Series/BetterCallSaul the character's titular show]], which ''also'' has parts where he's living in a DeliberatelyMonochrome Nebraska.

** And while he gets a NiceHat (with "[[{{Irony}} Prize Winner]]" written on it) as a consolation prize, the conversation between David and the receptionist is depressing.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Woody really so far gone due to the early stages of dementia that he actually believes that he's won the sweepstakes, or at some level is he of enough sound mind to realize that there is no million dollar prize but that pretending that there is gives him something to look forward to and live for, however illusory? Woody's nonplussed reaction to the clerk at the office informingand his earlier conversation with David suggests that it's the latter.

* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: Is Woody really so far gone due to the early stages of dementia that he really believes that he's won the sweepstakes, or at some level is he of enough sound mind to realize that there is no million dollar prize but that pretending that there is gives him something to look forward to and live for, however illusory? Woody's nonplussed reaction to the clerk at the office informingand his earlier conversation with David suggests that it's the latter.

** And while he gets some consolation prize, the conversation between David and the receptionist is depressing.

* CrossesTheLineTwice: The scenes where Kate visits the graveyard, and tells David about the lives of the deceased

** Seeing him admitting that he wanted to give and leave his sons something, as well as giving up on his fantasy, can double as a CrowningMomentofHeartwarming as well.