Alexander Payne

What makes a Alexander Payne film a Alexander Payne film

Across 8 films, they run somewhat less energy, somewhat less tension and somewhat less paranoia than films in general. Their films vary about as much as any director’s do, so this is an average rather than a template.

The line down the middle is the average film. A bar to the right means more of that reading than films in general, to the left less. Drawn from every film of theirs in the catalogue, not a selection.