“Nomadland” is a Frances McDormand kind of film.

It’s awash in stunning landscapes, is unrepentantly dour, and filled with quirky characters and oddball situations.

“Nomadland” is also a wonderful quest for the authentic self, a soul-searching meditation and is spiritually-uplifting.

“Nomadland” is in the Frances McDormand film genre (Yes, there is one, and I am declaring it now.), including “Fargo” (1996), for which McDormand received an actress Oscar, and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” (2017), for which McDormand received an actress Oscar.

McDormand deserves another actress Oscar nomination for “Nomadland” when 2021 Oscar nominations are announced March 15. McDormand is a front-runner to receive the actress Oscar for “Nomadand.”

If McDormand receives her third Oscar actress win she will eclipse two-time Oscar actress winners Luise Rainer, Olivia de Havilland, Bette Davis, Ingrid Bergman, Vivien Leigh, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda, Glenda Jackson, Sally Field, Jodie Foster, Meryl Streep and Hilary Swank.

No actress has won three actress Oscars.

Katharine Hepburn has won four actress Oscars, the most of anyone in the category.

“Nomadland” is deserving of Oscar nominations for picture, as well as director, adapted screenplay and editing, all by Chloé Zhao, and cinematography (Joshua James Richards), and music (Ludovico Einaudi), among other nominations.

“Nomadland” is no Disneyland. The story takes place during the Great Recession in the United States circa 2008-2009. The film is a hybrid of a documentary film and narrative-fiction film.

Fern (Frances McDormand) takes to the highway in her van after her husband dies and the town of Empire, Nev., becomes a ghost town following the shutdown of the US Gypsum plant, where the couple had worked.

“Nomadland” has elements of the Michael Moore documentary film, “Roger & Me” (1989), but instead of General Motors and Flint, Mich., it’s US Gypsum and the Great Wide West.

The screenplay is based on Jessica Bruder’s 2017 nonfiction book, “Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century.”

Director Chloé Zhao (director, “The Rider,” 2017; “Songs My Brother Taught Me,” 2015, and the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, “Eternals.” 2021) lets the camera linger on the western mountains and plains, sunsets and sunrises, the film’s characters, and many surprising locales, including an Ophelia-like scene of Fern floating in the water. Credit Director of Photography Richards (cinematography, “The Rider,” “God’s Own Country,” 2017).

One of the last acting appearances by Buster Keaton was in Ford Econoline TV commercials in 1964 and 1965. In “Nomadland,” McDormand sets out in a 2001 Ford Econoline van nicknamed “Vanguard.”

McDormand has a Keatoneque quality as Fern. Her face is impassive, as rock-like as Mt. Rushmore. Her acting prowess is such that the movement of her eyes, a slight tilt of her head, her wan pixie smile, a prolonged gaze transmits mountains of meaning.

McDormand imbues Fern with a Charlie Chaplin-like grace. Her gait and stance is Chapinesque. You half expect her to don a bowler, waistcoat and cane.

Playing opposite McDormand in several scenes is David Strathairn (Oscar actor nominee, “Good Night, and Good Luck,” 2005), said to be the only other professional actor in “Nomadland.”

Non-actors and real-life nomads include Linda May, Swankie and Bob Wells (founder of the annual Rubber Tramp Rendezvous of RV nomads).

They populate the RV parks; Badlands National Park and Wall Drug, both South Dakota; Quartzsite Yacht Club, Quartzsite, Ariz.; diners; laundromats, and an Amazon warehouse where Fern is a seasonal worker.

“Nomadland” is the anti-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic shutdown film. It’s a modern classic, a film for our time, or any time.

There are no farewells in “Nomadland.” There are no goodbyes. Just “See you down the road.”

Bob Wells, who lost his son, is certain he will meet his son again “down the road.” He tells Fern that she, too, will meet her departed husband someday “down the road.”

In that is a certain reassurance. In “Nomadland,” in this land, that’s enough.

If a Frances McDormand film is your kind of film, then “Nomadland” is your kind of film.

There’s more that can be said about “Nomadland.” For now, it’s this: I plan to see the film again “down the road.”

“Nomadland,”

MPAA Rated R (Restricted Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian. Contains some adult material. Parents are urged to learn more about the film before taking their young children with them.) for some full nudity; Genre: Drama; Run Time: 1 hr. 41 min. Distributed by Searchlight Pictures through Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures.

Credit Readers Anonymous:

Searchlight Pictures, formerly Fox Searchlight Pictures, is a division of The Walt Disney Company. Don’t expect a Nomadland to open anytime soon in Disneyland or Disney World. “Nomadland” premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival, receiving the Golden Lion, and at the Toronto International Film Festival, receiving the People’s Choice. It’s the first film to win the top prize at both film festivals. Frances McDormand is one of the producers of “Nomadland,” which received the 2021 best picture Golden Globe and director Golden Globe for Chloé Zhao,

Here’s the link to the Buster Keaton Ford Econoline TV commercials:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2zf6zm

Here’s the link to Bob Wells answering questions about “Nomadland”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YDYvl0fRxQ

At The Movies:

“Nomadland” was seen at Frank Banko Cinemas, ArtsQuest Center, SteelStacks, Bethlehem. Online ticketing, contactless forehead temperature-taking upon entrance, face masks, social distancing in seating and hand sanitizers are part of the COVID-19 protocol at Banko. There were 20 at the 4:30 p.m. Feb. 20 screening, which because of indoor capacity restrictions, is considered a sell-out screening.

Movie Box Office,

Feb, 26-28: “Tom and Jerry” ran to No. 1, opening with $13.7 million on 2,475 screens, a strong opening in the time of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, dropping “The Croods: A New Age” to No. 2 after reclaiming a two-week No. 1 run, $1.2 million, on 1,912 screens, $52.3 million, 14 weeks.

“Tom and Jerry” had the second-best opening during the pandemic when most movie theaters in the United States have been closed.

“Wonder Woman 1984” has had the biggest pandemic opening, in December 2020 with $16.7 million.

“Tenet,” which opened Aug. 12, 2020, and “The Croods: A New Age,” which opened Nov. 25, 2020, had the next most successful pandemic opening weekends, each with approximately $10 million on opening weekend.

3. “The Little Things” stayed in place, with $925,000, on 1,853 screens, $12.9 million, five weeks. 4. “Wonder Woman 1984” stayed in place, $710,000, on 1,534 screens, $43.6 million, 10 weeks. 5. “The Marksman” stayed in place, $700,000, on 1,614 screens, $12.3 million, seven weeks. 6. “Nomadland” stayed in place, $528,000, on 1,200 screens, $1 million, two weeks. 7. “Judas And The Black Messiah” stayed in place, $500,000 on 1,350 screens, $4.1 million, three weeks. 8. “Monster Hunter” dropped two places, $460,000, on 1,311 screens, $14 million, 11 weeks. 9. “Land” dropped one place, $355,000, on 1,349 screens, $2.1 million, three weeks. 10. “News Of The World” dropped one place, $200,000, on 992 screens; $11.9 million, 10 weeks. 11. “The War With Grandpa,” starring Allentown’s Oakes Fegley, dropped one place, $138,997, on 621 screens; $20.5 million, 21 weeks. 15. “Come Play,” starring Allentown’s Winslow Fegley, moved up one place, $64,000, on 123 screens, $10.4 million, 18 weeks.

Box office figures are from Box Office Mojo as of Feb. 28 and are subject to change

Unreel,

March 5:

“Raya and the Last Dragon,”

PG: Don Hall, Carlos Lopez Estrada, Paul Briggs and John Ripa co-direct the voice talents of Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Izaac Wang, Gemma Chan, Daniel Dae Kim, Benedict Wong, Sandra Oh and Alan Tudyk and the animation in the Action-Adventure film. Raya the warrior searches for the last dragon.

“Boogie,”

R: Eddie Huang directs Taylor Takahashi and Taylor Paige in the Drama. A Queens, N.Y., basketball player seeks NBA stardom.

“Chaos Walking,”

PG-13: Doug Liman directs Tom Holland, Mads Mikkelsen, Daisy Ridley and Nick Jonas in the Sci-Fi Adventure. It’s a world where everyone can hear each other’s thoughts.

“The World to Come,”

R: Mona Fastvoid directs Katherine Waterston, Casey Affleck and Vanessa Kirby in the Drama. The hardships of living in the American frontier in the mid-1800s.

“My Salinger Year,”

R: Philippe Falardeau directs Margaret Qualley, Sigourney Weaver, Douglas Booth, Seana Kerslake and Tim post in the Drama. A woman works for the literary agent of writer J.D. Salinger.

Opening-date information is from Internet Movie Database.

Four Popcorn Boxes out of Five Popcorn Boxes