Award-seeking performances from Glenn Close and Amy Adams as mother and daughter struggling with family life in a depression-hit Ohio highlight the shortcomings of an essentially unpleasant film of poverty, addiction and domestic abuse.
When J.D. (Gabriel Rosso) receives a late night phone call, he finds himself on the road from Yale Law School to his hometown. His mother (Amy Adams) had overdosed on heroin – again. Returning to his childhood haunts results in a reflection on three generations and their struggles to survive.
Based on a true ‘I made good’ storyline, Hillbilly Elegy is little more than surface surfing, a film that, like Amy Adam’s character, consistently makes bad decisions. Director Ron Howard misses the point, resulting in a somewhat shallow telling of what is essentially the background story of the rise of Donald Trump in blue-collar mid-west America.
Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2021: best supporting actress – Glenn Close – and makeup/hair.
Rating: 43%
Director: Ron Howard (Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind)
Writer: Vanessa Taylor (The Shape of Water, Divergent) – based on the memoire by J.D. Vance
Main cast: Glenn Close (The Wife, Fatal Attraction), Amy Adams (Doubt, Arrival), Gabriel Rosso (Super 8, The Kings of Summer)
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