Hillbilly Elegy

This is not an Everyman movie. It is not meant to be entertaining but it is educational, revealing and truthful about what it's like to deal with poverty, addiction and abusive family dynamics. Not everyone can relate because at times, it is uncomfortable to watch. Putting judgment and raw emotions aside, in the end, it is about hope, tough love, determination, resourcefulness and survival.

So glad I ignored the reviews saying it was a "bad" movie because the movie itself is not bad. It's very well-done. I think it's just the cringe-worthy character defects that cause many reviewers pan it because maybe they were not expecting such a giant dose of reality showing up - a reality they want no part of and don't want to understand because it scares them.

It shows the ugly side of the human condition and it highlights moments when we have an opportunity to make decisions that can be life-altering. It's a story about connections, and about learning when and how to either strengthen them or release them in order to keep moving forward in life.

NOTE: This should be required viewing in all addiction recovery programs.

Excellent, magnificent, the performances of Glenn Close (10) and Amy Adams (9).

While I hoped this movie would be more well made then it was, it was still great to watch. It was nice to see a movie that felt very familiar, especially coming out on a big streaming platform like Netflix. They did a good job with this one. Glenn Close was amazing every second she was on camera, and definitely carried the film. The music was nice too, and the film feels very authentic. It might not be perfect, but Hillbilly Elegy should definitely pique anyone's curiosity and be able to hold on to them for the entirety of the film. Go watch it and decide.

Well I had a great review written but it was erased when I switched to another site to fact check some other movies. What I wanted to say was this is a hard movie to watch. It's hard bc it's honest. We all have our struggles and this is another depiction of an honest struggle families have. In America we like to place labels. In this case the labels are hillbilly, red neck, or white trash. It's all true, but it doesn't mean that's bad. It means it's honest. It makes me think of other honest movies about American families like Crooklyn, Ordinary People or Kramer vs Kramer. In this year of 2020 the word struggle comes up time and again, but let's not forget another truly American symbolic word .... perseverance. Watch this movie and know that if you're down and feel like the world is against you just keep fighting and persevere. I hope this movie can inspire that feeling. It did for me.

Trying to figure out why the critics' score is so different from the user score and all I can think is because the former is detached from the reality of rural white poverty. Living and teaching in an area similar to where J.D. comes from, I see his struggle of trying to escape poverty through education and the impact of drug abuse on communities on a regular basis. It's easy to dismiss this as "Oscar bait" and it definitely is...but it's also a movie, though really difficult to watch at points, that tells the uncomfortable reality for far too many.