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TITLE: _Nomadland_DESCRIBE THIS MOVIE IN ONE "BORN TO RUN" LYRIC: > BRUCE: The highway's jammed with broken heroes / On a last chance > power drive BRIEF PLOT SYNOPSIS: 

Out here in the perimeter, there are no ... actually, there still are stars. RATING USING RANDOM OBJECTS RELEVANT TO THE FILM: 4 MK-15c space probes out of 5. [BOOK] TAGLINE: "Surviving

America in the Twenty-First Century" BETTER TAGLINE: "Capitalism Sucks: The Movie" NOT SO BRIEF PLOT SYNOPSIS: Shortly after her husband's death, Fern (Frances

McDormand) was laid off from her job at an Arizona gypsum plant. Working seasonally at Amazon and living out of her van, she's now just one of many eking out an existence on the fringes

of America. [embedded content] "Critical" Analysis: Chloé Zhao's adaptation of Jessica Bruder's 2017 look at older workers displaced by economic hardship and the Great

Recession is a deliberate and meditative film, but it could easily have turned into a polemic about the disregard society holds for those cast aside by the engines of progress. But if

you've seen earlier efforts of hers, like _The Rider_, you know that isn't how Zhao rolls. _Nomadland_ instead is almost lyrical, contrasting Fern's job (and car) struggles

with the rugged beauty of the landscapes she travels, which are rendered breathtakingly by cinematographer Joshua James Richards. The film's loose structure focuses on Fern, as Zhao

(who wrote and directed) weaves stories of (mostly) quiet desperation around her. There's the woman with terminal cancer who vows not to spend any more time indoors, the Vietnam vet

with PTSD who finds peace in the wilderness, and David (David Strathairn), whose strained relationships with extended family provides common ground with Fern. It's the juxtaposition

between the so-called "normal" American lifestyle and Fern's reluctance to leave the road that passes for a central theme. Neither her sister nor David's son can fathom

why anyone would choose what barely amounts to subsistence living when alternatives, undignified as they may be, still exist. _Nomadland_ has been referred to as a "neo-Western" by

some, though it lacks certain key traits. None of Zhao's nomads are out for revenge, for example, and the idea that any of the principal characters "deserve" their fates

(actions have consequences) is murky, at best. But there's no denying that Fern and her companions are traversing a frontier, only this one confronts people without options, as opposed

to promising prosperity to those with intrepid spirits, or whatever. There's even a buffalo on hand, for those who need the quiet part said out loud. Holding it all together is

McDormand. Fern bends but never breaks under her hardship, which fluctuates in its intensity but is never far away. It's hard to imagine another actor either physically or emotionally

capable of shouldering this role, and if she hadn't just won a slew of awards two years ago (for _Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)_, she'd most likely be a lock for more.

Those pointless concerns aside, _Nomadland_ is poignant and thought-provoking, forcing us to acknowledge the failures of our system by confronting the ordeals of those cast aside by it.

Nomadland _is now playing in select IMAX theaters. A limited theater run and Hulu premiere is coming February 19._