REVIEW: Hillbilly Elegy is Filled with Great Performances But a Lacking Story
Family is everything. No matter how far from home you go, your family will always be with this. They help shape who you become as an adult and help shape the choices you make as you get older. In Netflix’s new film, Hillbilly Elegy, we watch as J.D. Vance realizes that his family has helped define the man he he has become today.
Based on the memoir, Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis by J.D. Vance, the film follows J.D. (Gabriel Basso) as he relives moments from his childhood growing up with his working class Appalachia family as he returns home to Ohio to take care of his mother, Bev (Amy Adams) who has overdosed on heroin. From the lessons he learned from his Mamaw (Glenn Close) to the problems with his mother, Vance realizes on this trop that he wouldn’t be the man he is today without all the things that happened between him and his family over the years.
This film has all the makings to be a great film, but the story is a little dry. Directed by Ron Howard, the film feels like it is just a snapshot of the Vance family. Instead of diving head first into the whys of the story and the family, Howard chooses to briefly brush the surface of the whys. Take for example, Bev’s issues with addiction. It is never really explained the why behind her addiction issues. You can assume it was because of her job at the hospital, because that is what the audience is shown, but you never fully understand the why.
Close is outstanding as the matriarch of the family, Mamaw. Close makes it clear in her performance that you don’t question nor mess with Mamaw. Adams also does a nice job as Bev, but Close’s performance is the real winner in this film. Owen Asztalo plays the younger J.D. and has no problem performing alongside Adams and Close. But Close’s performance was really the only shining part of the film.
The film is a little too long, but now that it is a on streaming you can tune into it whenever you want. And, stop it whenever you want. Close is definitely the best part of the film and deserves an acting nomination for her work in this film. But, I wish there had been more meat to the overall story.
Grade: B-