The Polarizing Appalachian Drama “Hillbilly Elegy” Film Adaptation Is Here. My Review.

The “Hillbilly Elegy” Adaptation has arrived on Netflix just in time for the holidays. The film adaptation commanded by esteemed Director, Ron Howard, has already faced many polarizing reviews. Fortunately, the film steers away from its political affiliations and instead focuses on the familial lineage in small-town Appalachia and one man’s reflection on his childhood.

Movie Trailer:

The initial reviews of the film were harsh, and the audience reception of the film seems to find viewers indecisive about the premise, even though the memoir spent much of its first year in print on the New York Time Best-Seller List. Rotten Tomatoes Critic reviews painted a bleak portrayal, with scores in the low 30s while the audience reception resides somewhere in the 70-80% range. After viewing, I find myself in the middle, torn between wanting to like the movie, but knowing that I probably won’t go back anytime soon for a re-watch.

The film, is based off the memoir of the same title, was written by J.D. Vance and was published in 2016. The book’s rights were snatched up by Netflix for a humble sum of $45M, with Ron Howard set to direct. Howard’s career has had many highlights, including “Apollo 13,” “Da Vinci Code” and “A Beautiful Mind” which has led him to the Oscar’s many times. However, the star-studded acting chops of Amy Adams and Glenn Close in the Lead/Supporting Actress Roles, doesn’t seem to be enough to push this film over the edge when it comes to Award consideration.

Close (Left) and Adams (Right) as Grandmother and Mother to JD Vance star as the leads in Howard's Adaptation.

When we first encounter the author, Vance, we are seeing him through a retrospective lens as he looks back on his childhood growing up in the hills between Jackson, Kentucky and Middleton, Ohio where his mother and grandmother grew up. It was a town where if you didn’t start a fight, you at least had to end it in order to protect your reputation and your family’s. The backroads of Kentucky were littered with family homes and large porches but the people inside them were plagued with poverty.

As the first few frames cover the expansive countryside between Ohio and Kentucky, it’s not too long before we cut forward to experience Vance’s time at Yale where he is in Law School in 2011. This is where Howard flashes for brief moments before returning back towards the reflection of his mother and grandmother figures in JD’s life. While entertaining a top law firm, Vance is called back towards his family when he receives word that his mother overdosed. Conflicted between staying at school during final interviews, he heads home to reflect back on the chaotic life growing up.

Although Vance is clearly the main character, and the author of the book, it is the three generations of women that take the forefront of the narrative in Howard’s adaptation. The film instead focuses on a young JD growing up under the influence of his grandmother (Close), his mother (Adams) and his sister (Haley Bennett). As his mother encounters pills and opioid addiction, his sister and grandmother take him under their wing, taking responsibility of his upbringing.

Haley Bennet plays JDs older sister, Lindsey, who helps raise JD in his mother's absence.

While the film is autobiographical, focusing on the life of Vance, the film steers away from the political affiliations that he has become associated with present day. The film features abuse, violence, financial ruin and tries hard to be a domestic drama with the American Dream vision that anything can be accomplished through hard work, which is where most of the critique comes from. The lasting message of the film you are left with when the screen goes black is that the psychological cycle of poverty can be avoided if you work hard enough. Like it or not.

The Race:

While it has great performances from Adams and Close, who seem to be in the running for Lead Actress and Supporting Actress, the cloud of mediocrity that the film resides under might prevent nominations, specifically from Adams who has been running for an Oscar for the past ten years. Adams who has been nominated six times has never won. Close who has been nominated seven times with a longer acting career has also never won. Close was up for an Oscar for Lead Actress just two years ago where she lost to Olivia Colman in “The Favourite” (2018). Ironically, it seems that if Close is up for Supporting Actress this year, she will once again be up against Colman for her role in “The Father” (2020).

It is highly unlikely that Howard will be nominated in the Director’s role, even though his long-list of acclaimed films have gotten him there before and the conflicting reviews from critics and audiences alike don’t seem to propel the film to Best Picture.

While “Hillbilly Elegy” focuses on the generational poverty and abuse, the film did little beyond its reflections and I was left with mixed feelings. I am pretty sure that the Oscar’s will approach it in a similar way.

Review Score: [B-]