Movie Review - Hillbilly Elegy

I haven't read the best-selling memoir by J. D. Vance, but this film, by director Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind and Apollo 13), is an adaptation, which drew some controversy. I can't speak to what Vance was trying to say in that book or what his views are. He's been described as a Conservative and is probably a Republican, so it's doubtful I would agree with a lot, if not most of his views. His book was published in the summer of 2016 in the wake of Donald Trump's rise and eventual nomination as a presidential candidate. Some saw this book as an explanation as to why people, especially in Appalachia, would go with and vote for Trump. Based on what I've gathered, the book reinforces a lot of stereotypes and right-wing talking points about how social problems are more about individual failings rather than institutional ones. If you're looking at the bigger picture, which the book seemed like it was doing, that position can be somewhat myopic. However, if the focus is just one family and is limited to the people in it, then that position could be a valid one.

Again, I can't speak too much as to what Vance's book does, but if there were political observations or views expressed therein, they appear to be absent here. Howard, along with his writer Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water and Divergent), make this film rather apolitical. There is perhaps some political subtext to be read in the beginning part of this film. Classism and elitism become a point of contention early on, but, other than that, the film stays mostly insulated to the struggles of Vance's family, especially over the course of 14 years, as he and his family contend with the drug addiction of one family member. The cause and effects of which ripple through them all. As such, it makes this film a bit cliché. So many films have been about addiction that it could be its own genre. Arguably, there's one every year, maybe two. One came earlier this year, The Way Back (2020) with Ben Affleck. What stands this one apart is that it's not about alcoholism, which a lot of films are. This one is about the opioid epidemic among rural white people, which has been a signature concern for the Trump administration.

Amy Adams (Man of Steel and American Hustle) stars as Beverly Vance or Bev, a nurse who moved from her more wooded and country home in Kentucky, out in the sticks or what's called the hollers. She moved to a more suburban area in Ohio but still more country. She did so to get work as a nurse and provide a better life for her two children. She's not only a working mom. She's single and relies a bit on the help of her parents. She and her family are hillbillies, but they're proud of who they are and they're supportive of family. She seems to be doing okay until her father suddenly dies, which sends her on a tailspin, causing her to start popping pills and even steal from her job in order to sustain her habit.

Glenn Close (The Wife and Fatal Attraction) co-stars as Mamaw, the mother to Bev. She's the tough-as-nails, foulmouthed, fiercely loyal, very sharp, old lady. When her daughter starts to spiral, there's not much she does, but she's there for her grandchildren. It's hinted that Mamaw's relationship with Bev was probably not an easy one. Mamaw is tough, but there seems to be a reticence to come down hard on Bev about her addiction and the reason for that isn't ever explored here. She at first simply covers for Bev, despite her obvious problem. It gets to a point where the focus for Mamaw becomes taking care of her grandson. It's not clear if he's her only grandson or just one of several, but when his future is threatened, Mamaw makes it her mission to keep him on track to have a better life than the one all the other family members currently have.

It's odd and perhaps a little sexist that Mamaw doesn't really care that much about her granddaughter, Lindsay, played by Haley Bennett (The Devil All the Time and Swallow). Mamaw treats her grandson like he's the family's last hope. She seems to want to push him to get an education, go to college and get some professional job that's presumably away from their depressed Ohio town like in a bustling city somewhere. Yet, it's not clear why she wouldn't push Lindsay to do the same. One would think as a woman that Mamaw would want to ensure that her granddaughter doesn't follow the same path as a lot of the women in her family who end up pregnant young and stuck in this area. For example, Mamaw buys her grandson an expensive calculator, but where's Lindsay's calculator?

Owen Asztalos (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul) plays JD Vance as a 12 year-old boy. JD is the aforementioned grandson. He's a chubby kid who gets bullied. He's sensitive, but arguably not that sensitive. There's an early scene where the family has to defend him. An impression is established that the boy needs more protection than his sister Lindsay. Yes, there are incidents later involving JD where the cops get involved, but I still am not convinced why he would get all the special attention from Mamaw that she would virtually ignore Lindsay.

Gabriel Basso (The Kings of Summer and Super 8) also co-stars as JD Vance as a 27-year-old man. After enlisting in the United States Marine Corps in order to earn money for college, JD attends Ohio State University. He then went to Yale Law School, but, in order to pay for law school, he works several jobs including washing dishes in a kitchen somewhere. He doesn't have the time or the opportunity to do the usual things that law students do. He has to work and can't engage in extracurricular activities. He wants to get a job at a law firm, so he goes to a networking dinner, but, due to elitism, he doesn't feel comfortable or capable of fitting in or ingratiating himself.

His job interview is threatened because he has to drive home in order to help his mother who has relapsed and needs to be put into rehab in order to kick her drug habit. The film jumps back-and-forth from JD taking a day to deal with his family, while worrying if he can get back to do the job interview, and JD remembering his time as a 12-year-old and being pulled between his mother and grandmother. The emphasis is more on Mamaw's tough love toward young JD. That part of the film is really effective, but I'm really not sure what the takeaway is from this film. It seems to say at the end that JD needs to get out of Appalachia and not stay. Yet, he needs not to be ashamed of where he comes from, which the film tries to explore through JD's relationship with his girlfriend, Usha, played by Freida Pinto (Rise of the Planet of the Apes and Slumdog Millionaire), but the film doesn't really succeed on that end.

Rated R for language, drug content and some violence.
Running Time: 1 hr. and 57 mins.

Available on Netflix.