Hillbilly Elegy

 3.5/4

Starring: Gabriel Basso, Amy Adams, Glenn Close, Owen Asztalos, Hayley Bennett, Freida Pinto

Rated R for Language Throughout, Drug Content and Some Violence

Ever since Donald Trump won the presidency four years ago, it has become fashionable for sociologists, political junkies and lay people to "understand" rural America.  I myself began to do this after reading an article from Cracked.com explaining why and how rural America propelled Trump to the White House.  I'm not kidding.  Reportedly, J.D. Vance's memoir, upon which the film is based, is more honest and critical of Appalachian culture and values than the film is.  Presumably, director Ron Howard didn't want to alienate a sizable portion of the audience.  But is it not true that in order to understand something you have to know the good, the bad, and the ugly parts of it?  And isn't it it hypocritical to expect a film about a culture that, for four years has decried (not unreasonably) the rise of political correctness to portray its subjects in a politically correct way?  Honesty means a warts and all approach.  Only then can people see their faults.

But I must review the film that was made, not the film I thought should be made.  What is here is good stuff.  This is a powerful and moving film and sure to be a heavy hitter at Oscar time (nominations for Amy Adams and Glenn Close are virtually guaranteed, and wins are not out of the question).  The film is episodic and Howard has trouble navigating the shifting timelines without making the transitions jarring (to a lesser extent, this was true of "In the Heart of the Sea").  But the characters are richly seen and powerfully acted with tremendous empathy.

J.D. (Basso) is the American success story.  He was raised in rural American but through hard work and sacrifice is now at Yale Law.  He is trying to ingratiate himself in upper class society (the "liberal elites," to coin a now-popular phrase) and has an interview for a summer internship coming up.  But then he gets a phone call from his sister Lindsay (Bennett): his mother Bev (Adams) has relapsed again.  Now he has to go back home and find someone to care for her.  While there, he reexamines his life and how he and his family got to where they are now.

In essence, this is a melding of the addiction story and the nostalgia piece.  It seems like an odd mix, but Howard makes it work.  By firmly rooting his story in Appalachian culture, he gives what is a fairly ordinary story new life and energy.  Howard knows that in a movie like this, details are essential.  Listen to how the character's talk: their accents, their speech cadence, their attitudes.  They reveal things to each other that most people in the cities would bury.  Words are not always used correctly.  And people say things that most would deem scandalous to us without a second thought.  And it's a place where violence, while distasteful and frowned upon, is acceptable in certain circumstances.  Passion overrules propriety.

Words cannot express just how good Amy Adams and Glenn Close are.  They aren't the only ones in the movie.  Nor are they the central characters.  But they make the biggest impressions.  Adams plays Bev as a woman in the throes of addiction and with some clear bipolar tendencies.  She has scars from the past and personality issues that she needs to address, but Bev has neither the access nor the insight to do so.  Adams has played an entirely different character in this same world: the simple-minded Ashley in "Junebug," which was her breakout role and earned her the first of thus far six Oscar nominations.  She is going to get a seventh, and unless I see a performance on par with Javier Gutierrez in "The Occupant," she deserves to win it.  Easily equalling her is Glenn Close whose portrayal of the matriarch, affectionately known as Mamaw, is one of the best of her career.  She is the glue that holds this family together and is unapologetic about how she sees the world.  In a series of crucial scenes, she gives J.D., whose turbulent home life has led him astray, two choices: he can make the most of the opportunity he has, or he can fall by the wayside like everyone else.  The usually glamorous Close completely disappears into the role to the extent that one of the family members broke into tears seeing her portray their grandmother.  Seeing clips of the real Mamaw during the end credits makes her performance all the more impressive.  She is a virtual clone of the real woman.

Not to be discounted is Gabriel Basso, who plays the man at the center of it all.  The actor probably won't get the same recognition as his more illustrious co-stars, but he deftly handles the role of a man trying to do the right thing in an impossible situation.  We like him and feel for him.  Basso doesn't go for theatrics. He keeps it in check, relying on body language and screen presence to do the heavy lifting.  It's a long shot, but he deserves some recognition as well.

This is not Ron Howard's best job behind the camera.  Past efforts have shown him to be a gifted storyteller, but this film is oddly paced and suffers from some jarring transitions where the connecting tissue is too obvious.  For example, J.D's transition from alienated layabout to hard worker is not convincing.  And every time Howard switches back in time, it feels like clockwork with the message highlighted.  The director's hand and intentions should be subtle and free of overt sentiment.

"Hillbilly Elegy" is not a perfect film.  In fact, it's not even the best film of the year that examines rural America.  "Mickey and the Bear" did this with more finesse and sensitivity, but despite a bravura performance by James Badge Dale, no one saw it.  But viewing the film on its own terms is the only fair thing to do, and on that level the film succeeds.  It creates a few remarkable people that I cared about and enjoyed spending time with (if "enjoy" is the right words...some of their struggles are hard to watch).  This is one of the year's best.