Hillbilly Elegy (B or 3/4 stars)
'Hillbilly Elegy' (directed by Ron Howard) is a character-based memoir, chronicling two critical time frames of the early life of author/narrator, J.D. Vance (played by Gabriel Basso & Owen Asztalos - as a teen). The 2011 time frame introduces former Marine J.D. while a student at Yale Law School, where he has been struggling to pay for tuition & trying to develop a life away from his Appalachian roots. He has a devoted girlfriend, Usha (Freida Pinto), and an opportunity for a prestigious internship. But a desperate call from his sister (Haley Bennett) forces him to drive from Yale to Ohio to discover that his perpetually drug-addicted mother, Bev (Amy Adams), is in the hospital following a heroin overdose; and with nowhere to go afterwards.
Intertwined with the 2011 scenes is a kaleidoscope of memories from J.D.'s turbulent childhood in the 1990s. Although brought up in a factory town in Ohio, J.D.'s hillbilly family had relocated from rural Kentucky to find a brighter future; and halting their string of inherited hardships. Already a mother by age 18, Bev led an erratic, mentally unstable life chock full of failed relationships, blown opportunities & said addictions. J.D.'s ornery-but-well-meaning grandmother, "Mamaw" (Glenn Close) - herself once a teen mother abused by her husband - enables her daughter's problems. But she becomes J.D.'s guardian; using a tough love approach to teach him some hard life lessons. These coming-of-age flashbacks establish the history necessary to understand how conflicted J.D. is about being pulled back into his family's web of turmoil, and helping heroin-addled mom get back on her feet.
'Hillbilly Elegy' has an old-fashioned feel to it; the kind of film that was popular some decades ago, but has gone out-of-vogue lately. I enjoyed its kind of scattered family drama/slice of rural Americana grit. Based on J.D. Vance's best-selling memoir, this film adaptation has ably brought to life the eye-opening happenstance & scarred familial relationships from page to screen. i.e., poignant looks at the poor, white Kentucky folk; a fancy Yale dinner where J.D. struggles to decipher the array of cutlery in front of him; the vicious cycles of poverty, abuse & addiction that are SO difficult to break free of, etc. The credits show us photos & home videos of Vance's real family and, it is clear that the filmmakers did a remarkable job styling the actors to look & act like the real people they are portraying.
Whoever cast Owen Asztalos & Gabriel Basso as the two J.D.s deserves an award because they both look, sound & act like the same person separated by 14 years. Amy Adams offers a few moments of heartbreaking subtlety. But on the whole, her bipolar/druggy character goes BIG and, boy does Adams take a bite out of "Bev". As good as Adams is, I think she goes a bit overboard, in spots. Glenn Close's "Mamaw" is another larger-than-life character, but you believe her more. Close fully embodies Mamaw; the highly-opinionated, profane, chain-smoking, tough cookie matriarch who is also beleaguered about her family's plight. With her oversized attire & crooked walk, you half expect a corncob pipe to be sticking sideways out of her mouth, as well. And yet, the character is not caricature. She's a fully formed, flawed, yet wonderful human being.
Now some critics believe that Ron Howard didn't construct as compelling a life story as the source material apparently does; but that's a standard critique of films based on a memoir. A criticism that I agree with some critics on would be that the film too often teeters on the precipice of melodrama and, there are many histrionic scenes. I mentioned Amy Adams' character acting bonkers -- go 'big, bigger, biggest' is not always the best approach. Similarly, some of the florid dialogue & motivational speeches that these characters spout give-off an air of artifice. This film is not without some cringey metaphors, regional stereotypes & exaggerated profundities. But despite that all, I still enjoyed the ride. I like the themes of struggle, perseverance & the hope in overcoming one's past. And I came to care about these characters who were able to cause as much harm as they were able to deeply love.
Intertwined with the 2011 scenes is a kaleidoscope of memories from J.D.'s turbulent childhood in the 1990s. Although brought up in a factory town in Ohio, J.D.'s hillbilly family had relocated from rural Kentucky to find a brighter future; and halting their string of inherited hardships. Already a mother by age 18, Bev led an erratic, mentally unstable life chock full of failed relationships, blown opportunities & said addictions. J.D.'s ornery-but-well-meaning grandmother, "Mamaw" (Glenn Close) - herself once a teen mother abused by her husband - enables her daughter's problems. But she becomes J.D.'s guardian; using a tough love approach to teach him some hard life lessons. These coming-of-age flashbacks establish the history necessary to understand how conflicted J.D. is about being pulled back into his family's web of turmoil, and helping heroin-addled mom get back on her feet.
'Hillbilly Elegy' has an old-fashioned feel to it; the kind of film that was popular some decades ago, but has gone out-of-vogue lately. I enjoyed its kind of scattered family drama/slice of rural Americana grit. Based on J.D. Vance's best-selling memoir, this film adaptation has ably brought to life the eye-opening happenstance & scarred familial relationships from page to screen. i.e., poignant looks at the poor, white Kentucky folk; a fancy Yale dinner where J.D. struggles to decipher the array of cutlery in front of him; the vicious cycles of poverty, abuse & addiction that are SO difficult to break free of, etc. The credits show us photos & home videos of Vance's real family and, it is clear that the filmmakers did a remarkable job styling the actors to look & act like the real people they are portraying.
Whoever cast Owen Asztalos & Gabriel Basso as the two J.D.s deserves an award because they both look, sound & act like the same person separated by 14 years. Amy Adams offers a few moments of heartbreaking subtlety. But on the whole, her bipolar/druggy character goes BIG and, boy does Adams take a bite out of "Bev". As good as Adams is, I think she goes a bit overboard, in spots. Glenn Close's "Mamaw" is another larger-than-life character, but you believe her more. Close fully embodies Mamaw; the highly-opinionated, profane, chain-smoking, tough cookie matriarch who is also beleaguered about her family's plight. With her oversized attire & crooked walk, you half expect a corncob pipe to be sticking sideways out of her mouth, as well. And yet, the character is not caricature. She's a fully formed, flawed, yet wonderful human being.
Now some critics believe that Ron Howard didn't construct as compelling a life story as the source material apparently does; but that's a standard critique of films based on a memoir. A criticism that I agree with some critics on would be that the film too often teeters on the precipice of melodrama and, there are many histrionic scenes. I mentioned Amy Adams' character acting bonkers -- go 'big, bigger, biggest' is not always the best approach. Similarly, some of the florid dialogue & motivational speeches that these characters spout give-off an air of artifice. This film is not without some cringey metaphors, regional stereotypes & exaggerated profundities. But despite that all, I still enjoyed the ride. I like the themes of struggle, perseverance & the hope in overcoming one's past. And I came to care about these characters who were able to cause as much harm as they were able to deeply love.