Hillbilly Elegy movie review

MOVIE TITLE: Hillbilly Elegy

RATING: R

LENGTH: 1 hour, 56 minutes

Movie Review Mom GRADE: B

IN A NUTSHELL:

Netflix had me at Ron Howard, Amy Adams, and Glenn Close. Nice line-up of talent! Based on the 2016 bestselling memoir by J.D. Vance called Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, this dramatic and honest film takes a look at the American Dream through the eyes of three generations of an Appalachian family. The narrator is the youngest son who reflects on the lessons learned from his past as he navigates law school at Yale.

And let’s talk about the title. The definition of an elegy is a poem of serious reflection, typically a lament for the dead. After watching this biographical movie about relationships, I would say the title is perfect and definitely caught my attention. Hopefully, people will be more inspired by this film, rather than just sad and depressed.

TIPS FOR PARENTS:

Two women flip the bird.
Talk of drug use and addiction. You see someone try to shoot up heroin. You might need to explain to kids what rehab is, although this really isn’t an appropriate movie for kids.
Some profanity and racial slurs
Physical and emotional abuse
Suicide attempts with blood
Talk of deaths, funeral scenes

THEMES:

Perseverance through struggle
Family
Tradition
Addictions
Salvation
Culture
Tough love vs. enabling
Sacrifice for family
The opioid epidemic in America

THINGS I LIKED:

Did you know that Amy Adams and Glenn Close have had 13 Academy Award nominations between the two of them? Impressive and well deserved! Maybe one of their performances in this movie will finally garner a win. I thought they both gave stellar performances. The timing of this movie’s release suggests a bid for an Oscar nomination, although a lot of critics are saying they hated this film.
Glenn Close is unrecognizable in this role as an aging southern granny. Kudos to the great makeup department.
Usha teaches J.D. Vance how to maneuver through the fancy table settings with some tips I hadn’t heard before about the “b” and “d” (bread and drink sides of the plate).
At the end of the movie, you get to see pictures and videos of the real people the story was based on. Wow, the casting department really nailed it! Great job!
The color palette changes throughout the years to help us understand the timeline.
There’s absolutely a lesson in how we become like the people we surround ourselves whether it is family or friends.
It was an interesting look at what it takes to break the cycle of poverty of the mind and of finances.

THINGS I DIDN’T LIKE:

So much yelling, anger, and profanity in this family.
People are so ugly to each other. It’s a hard movie to watch because of the content. The family I grew up in wasn’t perfect either, but I’m so grateful they didn’t behave like these people. It was exhausting watching how they treated each other.
There are a lot of flashbacks, so some people might get confused by the timeline.
There really isn’t any humor in the movie, other than a few salty comments by Mamaw (Glenn Close). It’s a sad telling of a traumatic childhood spent with a dysfunctional family in the hills of Kentucky.
They could have explained the military connection a little bit more to show how J.D. Vance was able to attend Yale university through the military educational program.

INTERESTING LINES:

“Why do they do that?” – J. D. Vance “Because we’re hill people. We respect our dead.” – Mamaw (Glenn Close)
“Everyone in this world is one of three people: a good terminator, a bad terminator, or a neutral terminator.” – Mamaw (Glenn Close)
“Family’s the only thing that means a ### thing.” – Mamaw (Glenn Close)

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