Review: Nomadland

[gipper]

We’ve been full timing for nearly three years now. We love it. Of course we’re not living in a van, but rather a luxury 44’ motor coach. All the comforts of home, including a 55” smart tv with blue ray surround sound.

Looking forward to watching this movie.

In our travels around the nation, we’ve seen many people living in old dilapidated RVs. They park on public streets and likely dump their waste down storm drains, polluting surface water. California has a ton of these people, in the richest nation the world has ever known.

I worked in the Fiber Optic/Cable industry for 25 years. There are a lot of guys who live in an RV (from travel trailers up to luxury class As). They move from project to project. They make good money. The money was better in the 1990s, but I guess that is the way of things.

Yeah we’ve seen a lot of that. People traveling the country, while working. The park we’re in now has many traveling nurses. The park wouldn’t allow anyone to stay less than 30 days, thus preventing it from getting filled up by weekenders and keeping it available for the nurses and essential personnel.

And people working as Camp Hosts too. Menial labor for a few dollars and a free place to park your RV.

Very true. Usually those camp hosts get the best site in the park.

 

[gipper]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

 

[dblack]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

LOL - wow. "It didn't make me laugh, and the star is ugly". Great review!

 

[dblack]

Van life has been a persistent daydream of mine for a long time. Here's a go-to website for info: Cheap RV Living.com-Home

 

[gipper]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

LOL - wow. "It didn't make me laugh, and the star is ugly". Great review!

What?

 

[Moonglow]

Van life has been a persistent daydream of mine for a long time. Here's a go-to website for info: Cheap RV Living.com-Home

I plan on doing exactly that when the last bird leaves the nest. But I am not going to work at a plant in Nevada.

 

[Moonglow]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

This is not a movie about beautiful people. The character is made to look plain to reflect her reality.

 

[WinterBorn]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

Sorry you didn't like it. The subject matter can be depressing. But it is real.

As for Francis Dormond, I think her looks were perfect for the film. No, she is not a raving beauty. But most people, especially older people, are not. Her face carries emotion well, and that was what they focused on her for. And she didn't look bad floating naked in the river.

Many of the people in the movie were real. Bob Wells is one of the central figures in the van life or RTR movement. Linda May is real too. The character of Fern is a combination of several people.

 

[WinterBorn]

Van life has been a persistent daydream of mine for a long time. Here's a go-to website for info: Cheap RV Living.com-Home

There are many who follow that dream. Bob Wells has a lot of YouTube videos that will help you.

 

[WinterBorn]

If they had made this film with "beautiful people" the actual story would have been completely lost.

As for it being depressing, that is true. But working your whole life, like you were told you should, only to find yourself unable to retire in a typical way, bereft of your loving partner, and struggling to make ends meet, is a depressing thing. And it is a very real thing for many, many Americans.

 

[gipper]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

Sorry you didn't like it. The subject matter can be depressing. But it is real.

As for Francis Dormond, I think her looks were perfect for the film. No, she is not a raving beauty. But most people, especially older people, are not. Her face carries emotion well, and that was what they focused on her for. And she didn't look bad floating naked in the river.

Many of the people in the movie were real. Bob Wells is one of the central figures in the van life or RTR movement. Linda May is real too. The character of Fern is a combination of several people.

Yes I know all that and agree. Why continually have the camera in her face? I am well aware the subject of the movie is real life. I’ve seen it first hand many times. I’ve been to Quartzite and seen the many old RVs people are living in.

BTW, we’ve stayed in the AZ desert many times and love it. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing. The stars on a dark night will blow your mind.

 

[WinterBorn]

Right now exclusively on HULU.
[Gets on soap box] - You might want to skip this part.... I loathe the recent rise in exclusive marketing by stream providers. It is a recent trend in trying to turn the streaming market into a clone of the old cable market. To get people to subscribe to numerous channels instead of just paying for a few like Netflix and Prime.
[Gets off of soap box]

Back to the movie.
This is a good one. Perhaps people under 50 won't connect well with it, it is a story of a gal who lost her husband and her job when a large mill closed. (which actually happened in Empire, Nevada) She becomes a recluse of sorts, living out of a van and finds a community of people who all live in their vans.
It is a simple story, heartfelt and Francis McDormand, no surprise, does a great job of playing the character.

We watched it last night. I can’t recommend it. It’s very slow and depressing. I’m surprised films like this are made. My guess is the Coen Brothers and Francis M. pushed it through somehow. She’s married to one of them.

Francis has lost her looks, yet the camera is in her face throughout the movie.

Sorry you didn't like it. The subject matter can be depressing. But it is real.

As for Francis Dormond, I think her looks were perfect for the film. No, she is not a raving beauty. But most people, especially older people, are not. Her face carries emotion well, and that was what they focused on her for. And she didn't look bad floating naked in the river.

Many of the people in the movie were real. Bob Wells is one of the central figures in the van life or RTR movement. Linda May is real too. The character of Fern is a combination of several people.

Yes I know all that and agree. Why continually have the camera in her face? I am well aware the subject of the movie is real life. I’ve seen it first hand many times. I’ve been to Quartzite and seen the many old RVs people are living in.

BTW, we’ve stayed in the AZ desert many times and love it. The sunrises and sunsets are amazing. The stars on a dark night will blow your mind.
View attachment 460048

Dormond's face showed great expression.

 

[EvilCat Breath]

Nomadic life belongs to adults. I was glad to see no one i the movie had children with them.

That life is a sickness. One of the nomad men described it as freedom. I heard that from my parents over and over "this is freedom". It's really a twisted form of freedom. A mental illness. If you enjoy it by all means drag yourself to all 49 states. I just hope you are not inflicting your personal garbage on anyone else.

 

[candycorn]

First rate movie. Fantastic scenery. The IMDB trivia on this is great--how they talk about FM actually working in a beet harvest for a while and living in her van. I especially liked the quip about how they had to get her to stop because she couldn't "act" exhausted because she was actually too exhausted to act.

One other thing...the Wall, South Dakota is fer-real. It starts when you cross the Wyoming/SD state line and you literally see a billboard every 2 miles about the Wall Pharmacy. Then the Wall Restaurant. Then the Wall motel. The Wall convenience store. If you've crossed the state line between (I think) North and South Carolina on I-95, you probably saw a place called "South of the Border" where there are like a dozen stores all together under the same umbrella company. Wall is a lot like that.... The street she walks down is the "street" between all of the shops that are, I imagine, owned by the same person.

Having lost my spouse, it made me cry a few times as I saw on the screen the same things I've done to remember them.

 

[WinterBorn]

First rate movie. Fantastic scenery. The IMDB trivia on this is great--how they talk about FM actually working in a beet harvest for a while and living in her van. I especially liked the quip about how they had to get her to stop because she couldn't "act" exhausted because she was actually too exhausted to act.

One other thing...the Wall, South Dakota is fer-real. It starts when you cross the Wyoming/SD state line and you literally see a billboard every 2 miles about the Wall Pharmacy. Then the Wall Restaurant. Then the Wall motel. The Wall convenience store. If you've crossed the state line between (I think) North and South Carolina on I-95, you probably saw a place called "South of the Border" where there are like a dozen stores all together under the same umbrella company. Wall is a lot like that.... The street she walks down is the "street" between all of the shops that are, I imagine, owned by the same person.

Having lost my spouse, it made me cry a few times as I saw on the screen the same things I've done to remember them.

I have heard about Wall Pharmacy. And I have seen the billboards for, and even stopped at South of the Border.

I thought there were some times in the movie that were as deeply moving as any recent movie.

 

[WinterBorn]

Nomadic life belongs to adults. I was glad to see no one i the movie had children with them.

That life is a sickness. One of the nomad men described it as freedom. I heard that from my parents over and over "this is freedom". It's really a twisted form of freedom. A mental illness. If you enjoy it by all means drag yourself to all 49 states. I just hope you are not inflicting your personal garbage on anyone else.

Many of the people who live that life were left with little choice.

 

[candycorn]

First rate movie. Fantastic scenery. The IMDB trivia on this is great--how they talk about FM actually working in a beet harvest for a while and living in her van. I especially liked the quip about how they had to get her to stop because she couldn't "act" exhausted because she was actually too exhausted to act.

One other thing...the Wall, South Dakota is fer-real. It starts when you cross the Wyoming/SD state line and you literally see a billboard every 2 miles about the Wall Pharmacy. Then the Wall Restaurant. Then the Wall motel. The Wall convenience store. If you've crossed the state line between (I think) North and South Carolina on I-95, you probably saw a place called "South of the Border" where there are like a dozen stores all together under the same umbrella company. Wall is a lot like that.... The street she walks down is the "street" between all of the shops that are, I imagine, owned by the same person.

Having lost my spouse, it made me cry a few times as I saw on the screen the same things I've done to remember them.

I have heard about Wall Pharmacy. And I have seen the billboards for, and even stopped at South of the Border.

I thought there were some times in the movie that were as deeply moving as any recent movie.

Just as an aside....

Pretty much all of the angle parking is the Wall Drug Store enterprise.

Wall Drug - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[WinterBorn]

I think many people do not understand the reasons some people live this lifestyle.

Imagine being close to retirement when the 2008 crash happened. Your 401k is now not even close to what you will need to live your current lifestyle. And working for another 10 years to build it back up isn't an option. Or imagine being close to retirement and the plant or business you have spent 30 years working in suddenly closes. Pensions can disappear without recourse. Your house isn't worth what you owe on it. Or in the case of a plant closing, isn't possible to make those mortgage payments. Where do you go?

Retirement living with your kids isn't going to work, if you even have kids that could afford to have you (space or money).

The idea of going on welfare and in gov't housing isn't what you imagined for your "golden years".

So you get a van or other RV and live on the road. No mortgage to worry about. No house and lawn to maintain while you travel. And you see the places you always wanted to see.


One great line from Bob Wells when someone asked him about living in such a small space in his van. "I sleep in here. I live out there."

 

[dblack]

That life is a sickness.

LOL - well, one man's sickness....

Why does it scare you so much?

 

[dblack]

One great line from Bob Wells when someone asked him about living in such a small space in his van. "I sleep in here. I live out there."

Ayup. I used to do a lot of bike touring with a couple of friends back east. We'd pack up everything we needed on our bikes and head out for an indefinite period, sometimes several weeks. There's a tremendous sense of freedom and independence in having everything you "own" mobile. The pace and the accommodations aren't typical vacation fare, but I loved it.