Hillbilly Elegy

Starring: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett, Freida Pinto, Bo Hopkins
Directed by: Ron Howard
Rating: R
Genre: Drama
2020

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: A Yale law student (Gabriel Basso) returns home to deal with family drama.

Review:

Tim: I enjoyed J.D. Vance's Hillbilly Elegy, although it was somewhat of a problematic book. It was an effective memoir of Vance's life, but it also sought to explain why so many in Appalachia struggle. It was the look into the systems that hold people back that truly made the book interesting. The downside was Vance takes a bit more of a "I worked hard and got out, why can't everyone else?" approach, which felt unfair to many in Appalachia. Also, side note, I went to school in southern Ohio, so while I never became immersed in this world, it was at least familiar to me.

Ron Howard takes all of that and tells us a story about a man and two women in his life. That's where the movie falls apart. It's a family drama and it loses the larger picture that Vance's book sought to clarify. There's no examination of the Appalachian region, no understanding of that part of America and why so many people struggle, generation after generation. It's a story about a boy, his very troubled mother, and his tough grandmother, who helped him change his life. That story is worthwhile, but it automatically starts this film out on a sour note. It wasn't as ambitious as it needed to be. It focuses on one family and neglects to inform its viewers of the region and the role geography plays in these people's lives. The movie needed to touch on the education system, the justice system, the culture and worldview of this part of America. It didn't do that. For that reason alone, the movie doesn't pay tribute enough to the book and Howard's film is a failure.

Now, I know it became somewhat fashionable for critics to dump on this movie. That's not entirely fair, either. I really like Howard and while this is one of his least effective movies, it's also decent. Vanessa Taylor's script loses too much from Vance's book, so that's the biggest issue. Howard directs at least a decent movie that might never truly stir you, but it's not boring.

The film is helped by strong performances by Amy Adams and Glenn Close. I actually feel badly for Gabriel Basso- he gives a really good performance in the lead role, and doesn't even show up on the DVD cover or the posters. I liked Basso in this role- he came across as intelligent, kind, yet conflicted. He channeled the Vance I imagined when I read the book. However, it's not a splashy role, so the producers and Netflix focused on others, instead. Now, women have a long history of being overlooked and neglected in Hollywood, so I don't want to complain too loudly. Adams and Close are both really good, so they do deserve some of the spotlight. Adams has long given effective performances like this, so they almost feel routine at this point. I rarely love Adams and I certainly didn't here. She does transform herself and gives a stripped down, hard-to-watch performance. She's a truly talented actress and there's no complaints about her performance from me.

Glenn Close was fantastic. She doesn't make enough movies for me to take her for granted, so it was a marvel to see her performance here. She disappears into this character and gives a powerful, memorable performance. It was amazing and undoubtedly the highlight of the film. Close felt so authentic in this role that undoubtedly felt worlds away from her everyday life. I thought she was excellent. While it wouldn't surprise me for Adams to get an Academy Award nomination, I certainly hope Close does.

Two other notes on the supporting cast- Haley Bennett gives a strong supporting performance here. It feels like I've seen her a lot lately, and every time, it's in these small supporting roles that linger in your mind. She has this way of making an impact with her characters without much screen time. I've been more and more impressed with her and this movie furthers that feeling. It was also nice to see Freida Pinto here. It feels like it's been a while since I saw her and I enjoyed her work here.

The movie itself is decent. I don't think I was ever bored, but I also didn't feel the emotions I should have for any of these characters. The movie has some effective scenes, but it tends to slide into the melodramatic and that hurts the movie. There's always this uncomfortable feeling of a bunch of rich Hollywood elites slumming it to appear as poor Middle America residents. It would have felt better if there was a larger message about Appalachia and they were trying to tell the stories of those not often shown in Hollywood films. The movie never felt like that. Truthfully, it felt like a bunch of talented people saw this as an opportunity for awards. I'm not suggesting I know what was in their heads, but that's how the movie comes across and I didn't care for that.

Hillbilly Elegy is never a bad movie, but it's disappointing that it didn't live up to its potential. It really could have been one of the better movies of the year, especially given the relative lack of competition 2020 has. Instead, it's a forgettable movie that fails to connect.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 6.5



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