No matter how bad a new Ron Howard movie might be, we have to remember that Ron Howard is Hollywood royalty. This is the man behind films Apollo 13, Cinderella Man, Frost Nixon, Rush, A Beautiful Mind and the incredible and super undervalued fantasy adventure, Willow. Ron Howard will continue to be a celebrated director in Hollywood for the rest of time. Lately, however, he’s put a couple of disappointments and it’s frustrating as to why that’s been the case. Even something like Solo, which is a great Star Wars movie, nobody saw and that had nothing to with Ron Howard being attached, it’s just no one went out to support it but it still reminded us that Ron Howard is a terrific filmmaker. With Hillbilly Elegy, the pieces of a great movie are there. You’ve got rich source material and a wonderful team of actors at play, so the true potential of this movie is there somewhere. Disappointingly, Hillybilly Elegy is a surface level attempt of capturing the southern lifestyle and hospitality that’s features a weak story, a basic script and a lackluster execution. Aside from two great performances from Amy Adams and Glenn Close, their characters deserved so much better than this.
Based on the book by J.D. Vance, Hillbilly Elegy tells the story of J.D. Vance, himself, and essentially his life growing up in Middletown, Ohio, with his family (originally from Kentucky) and the relationships and the specific social dilemmas that he has with them.
Rather than getting into the positives of Hillbilly Elegy (even though there’s not a lot to be found), this is a movie that is littered with problems. As much as we love Ron Howard, every great director has their weak spots. Steven Spielberg, the greatest filmmaker that’s ever lived, had The Terminal and Indian Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Ridley Scott had The Counselor a few years back and it’s best not to talk about that movie. Every great artist has something that comes out that doesn’t deliver the way you had hoped for. Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy is certainly not his worst movie, but it’s definitely a weak spot for him and maybe the biggest problem with this movie is it’s direction. The path this movie went on didn’t have virtually any of heart or any profound emotion that left you shaking to your core. As great of a directory and storyteller as Ron Howard is, his direction in Hillbilly Elegy felt empty.
While certain performances might be the one ingredient that save this movie from being tasteless, the script is poorly conceived and underdeveloped. First thing first, the emotional crux of Hillbilly Elegy is weak and incredibly dull and that’s the fact that hardly any character in this movie had zero impact on you. The emotional side in Hillbilly Elegy wasn’t executed well because it wasn’t handled with grace and it’s angle of sympathy felt wooden and severely dry. But something that’s frustrating in Hillbilly Elegy is that’s portrayal of a country family comes as off as flat never digs that deep, rather it’s really on the surface level.
One of the biggest issues with Hillbilly Elegy is that it’s painfully distressing. It tries to get the viewers to truly empathize with the characters and the subject matter at hand, but the issue at it play is that it doesn’t work as effectively or as nuanced as it probably should have been. And aside from the performances from Adams and Close, the rest of the performances are as wood as wood gets. Yikes indeed.
Amy Adams and Glenn Close’s performances really elevate the weak script and the subpar direction by adding some form of life and spirit to this mediocre movie. Amy Adams is, arguably, the greatest working actress today and her work really speaks for herself and while the movie she’s in isn’t so hot her performance is, frankly, great and heartbreaking and if only this idea was applied to it’s script and narrative. Same thing for Glenn Close. Glenn Close is maybe one the best actresses that’s ever lived. This is an actress on the level of a Cate Blanchett and a Meryl Streep, and like Amy Adams, she’s terrific in this movie. The vigorus connection they share in this movie is worthy for awards, it’s the movie their in doesn’t have the heart and the profound impact the rest of the movie doesn’t have.
At the end of the day, Hillbilly Elegy is by no mean the worst movie of the year, it’s just bad and it’s disappointing knowing who’s attached and the source material that’s at play. Aside from two very strong performances from Amy Adams and Glenn Close, the script is appallingly developed, the characters don’t really have a strong through line and the way the subject matter is maneuvered felt cheap and thin. There is, however, a beautiful score composed by Hans Zimmer and David Fleming, but even that isn’t enough to save this sappy movie.
My grade for Hillbilly Elegy: C-
Zane's take at the Cinema's 