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Hillbilly Elegy (2020) Review

An elegy to messy filmmaking

  • Chris Carter Chris Carter
  • December 8, 2020
  • 2 Minute Read
Hillbilly Elegy (2020) Review 1
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Score: 4 / 10

Family dramas often walk a real fine line. Too much sap, it trips and falls into the soapy pits of despair. Too little, and it’s hard to really relate and care about any of the characters. Hillbilly Elegy really, really tries to balance the two, but ends up falling squarely into the former camp; despite the star talent involved.

I won’t beat around the bush: frankly, I’m kind of surprised this was helmed by Ron Howard, was penned by an award-winning screenwriter, and has two very respectable stars in it. I was completely dumbfounded fairly early on when the out-of-place voiceover started to sink in; wondering if I had accidentally started an early ‘90s made-for-TV film instead.

While you could argue the crux of the film is generational pain between Amy Adams and Glenn Close (who plays her mother, “Mamaw”), much of the screen time is actually centered around Adams’ on-screen son, J.D. That’s in part due to the source material (penned by the actual J.D. Vance), and it’s absolutely to this film’s detriment.

Final Thoughts:

I don’t know what went wrong with Hillbilly Elegy, but the source material is chiefly to blame.
Chris Carter

Chris Carter

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Hillbilly Elegy (2020) Review 3

Hillbilly Elegy

Director(s): Ron Howard
Cast: Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Gabriel Basso, Haley Bennett
Running Time: 116 min

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