University of Texas Press Stranger from Omaha: Travel Narratives in the Cinema of Alexander Payne

"Alexander Payne's directorial career began with the satiric hit Citizen Ruth and continued with other successes, such as Election, About Schmidt, The Descendants, Nebraska, and most recently The Holdovers. Jason Sperb here provides the first monographicstudy on Payne's career and auteurship, focusing on the theme of travel through his films. Drawing on theories of tourism, whiteness, masculinity, nostalgia, and class, Sperb structures his book using typical filmic plot points, moving from Payne's backstory to the status quo his characters find themselves in before a catalyst spurs them to begin a journey that leads to a crisis and then of course resolution. He uses each point to explore various of Payne's films, such as exploring how the characters' status quo in About Schmidt, The Descendants, and Downsizing lead them to a "white savior" mentality to help others with less privilege. Through the characters' journeys, Sperb is able to focus on the "Midwesternness" of Payne's films, even those that are located elsewhere, based on Payne's roots in Omaha and his love of Westerns. He concludes by examining the ways in which Payne's characters finish their journeys, not necessarily by addressing past crises or having a moment of growth, but with fleeting moments of emotional release or experiencing moments of grace from others"-- The first in-depth analysis of the films of Alexander Payne through the lenses of authorship, tourism, and leisure. With the films Election, About Schmidt, Sideways, Nebraska, and The Holdovers, Alexander Payne has carved out an unusual role in American cinema as a bankable auteur. There is something about Payne’s neurotics and searchers, his working stiffs and disillusioned idealists—something funny, moving, and filled with insight. Jason Sperb dissects Payne’s oeuvre, focusing on the director’s penchant for travel narratives. Payne’s films usually center on male protagonists discontent with the emotional and material realities of the day-to-day and seeking satisfaction in some literal or metaphorical elsewhere. But their attempts to escape wind up perpetuating, rather than alleviating, the imbalance between labor and leisure that structures modern life. In this sense, Sperb argues, Payne’s characters are akin to tourists, searching for fleeting glimpses of the fulfillment they dream about. Examining themes of masculinity, nostalgia, whiteness, and class, The Stranger from Omaha is the first auteur study devoted to Payne’s delicately balanced cinematic world. An outsider even in his own heartland, Payne proves to be an artist working at a clarifying remove—a witness to the American condition, observing from just enough distance. The first in-depth analysis of the films of Alexander Payne through the lenses of authorship, tourism, and leisure. Autorid: Jason Sperb