A One Mann’s Movies review of “Hillbilly Elegy” (2020).
Bob the Movie Man Rating:
I missed Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy” when it came out at the end of last year, but principally wanted to catch up on it to see Glenn Close’s Oscar nominated performance before Sunday’s Oscars.
Plot Summary:
J.D. Vance (Gabriel Basso), although born into a poor Appalachian family, is making good as a law student at Yale. He even has a lovely girlfriend in Usha (Freida Pinto), who teaches him the niceties of etiquette.
But family ties and responsibilities in the family run deep, and during crucial college interviews he is called away to tend his mother Bev (Amy Adams) who’s taken a drug overdose back home in Middletown Ohio.
Through flashbacks we see how the tempestuous relationship between mother and son has developed, moderated only by the stern but kindly guidance of J.D.’s grandmother Mamaw (Glenn Close).
Mamaw (Glenn Close) gives young J.D. (Owen Asztalos) a stiff talking to. (Source: Netflix).
Certification:
Talent:
Starring: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Freida Pinto, Haley Bennett.
Directed by: Ron Howard.
Written by: Vanessa Taylor (based on the book by J.D. Vance).
Lindsay (Haley Bennett), J.D. (Gabriel Basso) and Bev (Amy Adams) wait in the rehab centre. (Source: Netflix).
Review:
Positives:
- When this film started, I suspected that the Glenn Close nomination might be another ‘Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love’ – – where her acceptance speech is longer than the time spent on screen! But no. Because of the flashback format deployed in the film, she actually gets a good amount of air time. And it’s a really solid and impressive performance.
- The supporting cast is also good. Amy Adams is given a lot to do with a challenging role, and (just about) pulls it off. And young Owen Asztalos as the younger J.D. particularly impressed me.
Amy Adams pulls out all the stops as the drugged up Bev. (Source: Netflix).
Negatives:
- Although it’s based on J.D. Vance’s true life story, I really struggled to get very invested in the story. The choppy nature of the narrative – hopping repeatedly between ‘the present’ and multiple flashback timelines – really doesn’t help with this.
- The whole J.D. / Usha romance element almost felt like it belonged in a different film. In fact, I found it frustrating that I found the elements with J.D.’s struggles at college, with the emerging love and guidance of Usha, as a more compelling narrative than the druggie mother lead story. Perhaps the movie was just trying to be too ambitious.
- Apart from one ‘personal decision’ scene in a motel bedroom, there’s not much of an “up-side” to the story for the viewer to take away. It’s not a movie that I found a positive experience.
Viewer Advisory;
- If you’ve had any history of life in a dysfunctional family, there is a lot of shouting, slapping and general tension in this movie which you might find disturbing.
Ron Howard directs. (Source: Entertainment Week)
Summary Thoughts on “Hillbilly Elegy”:
So, I came to this to see the performance of Glenn Close, and it’s very good. I would personally be surprised if she takes the Oscar for this. However, having been nominated eight times before and never won, the ‘sympathy vote’ may play here.
But one of my bellweathers for a movie is to think whether I’ll remember it in six months time. I’m afraid this one is unlikely to pass the test. If you say “Hillbilly Elegy” to me in October, I’ll probably recall a whole lot of shouty people and Glenn Close glowering at me from the screen. That’s not a wholly great recommendation for a movie. Sorry Mr Howard, but this one’s a ‘miss’ for me.
Trailer:
The trailer for “Hillbilly Elegy” is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KW_3aaoSOYg .
