Frances McDormand delivers a passionate, striking turn in Nomadland.
Playing a fictional character dropped into a genuine world, Frances McDormand’s performance has a great deal of unique pressure on it, but not to be underestimated is the fact that she is one of the greatest actors of her generation. It’s certainly one of her more subdued roles, not possessing the same kind of fire as Mildred Hayes in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, or the outrageous folksiness of Fargo’s Marge Gunderson, but in being so also a special representation of her impressive range. McDormand keeps real pain being Fern’s eyes, but also imbues with her a tough-as-nails spirit that comes through not only in her desire to restart her life, but also her everlasting kindness.
