MovieChat Forums > Hillbilly Elegy (2020) Discussion > Critics Call Ron Howard’s ‘Hillbilly Ele...

Critics Call Ron Howard’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ ‘Laughably Horrendous,’ ‘Worst Film of His Career’


https://www.thewrap.com/hillbilly-elegy-reviews-ron-howard-director/

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http://www.agcwebpages.com/BLINDITEMS/2020/NOVEMBER.html

99. ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER 11/10 **8**

https://www.crazydaysandnights.net/2020/11/blind-item-8_10.html

Prior to this week, everyone was talking up this long time A list mostly movie actress to finally win an Oscar after so many nominations without a win. Now that people have seen the movie, she is more likely to win a Razzie. It is a horrific movie. The alliterate actress who is also in it and who is an Oscar winner/nominee wants no part of it. Glenn Close/"Hillbilly Elegy"/Amy Adams (Critics Call Ron Howard’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ ‘Laughably Horrendous,’ ‘Worst Film of His Career’)

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So, that reviewer is a woketarded jackass angry at every straight white male for being born. I now will watch this, it must be good to trigger the fools this much.

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While I always root for Glenn Close, few things could set my alarm bells ringing more quickly than a Ron Howard movie calling itself ‘Hillbilly Elegy’. I’ll probably end up watching it, but have had little hope for this since it was announced.

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'Hillbilly Elegy' Is One of the Worst Movies of the Year

https://www.theatlantic.com/culture/archive/2020/11/hillbilly-elegy/617189/

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I can’t help but wonder what this critic’s opinions might have been about a similar story revolving around people of any race other than white.

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The poster looks like a SNL spoof of hillbillies.

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The absurdity of the movie is that it isn't about Hill Billies at all. The only character who lived in Appalachia at all was the Grand Mother who ran away from Appalachia at age 13 pregnant...

The movie takes place in Middletown Ohio and is focused on people who lived their whole lives in that city.

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Just based on the poster itself it looks depressing.

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Based on the fact that it is based on a book that is shit it is a no go. It was pretty clear in the book that the guy was writing to cater to elitist idiots and not being honest... so basically it was fiction.

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The book is actually quite good, for those who can read. Unfortunately, the movie appears to be a burlesque of hillbillies.

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Actually I did read the book and am intimately familiar with Yale Law School, a lot of what he claimed to have experienced there was bullshit. So when I say his book is shit I'm not talking about his writing style or whether it was interesting I'm talking about it being factually wrong. I have no idea of what it is like to live in Ohio so it is possible that part of his book is accurate, I simply go by the theory that if he lies in one of the book then I will assume he lied in other parts as well.

If I am going to see a movie that is supposed to be a true story then I want a true story, this one isn't if it is based on the book so I'm not going to piss away my time watching it, I already pissed away time reading an inaccurate book.

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The movie really doesn't cover Yale at all.

They just show him trying to get a job and elude to it.

It's about his family in Ohio and his childhood more than anything else.

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And as I said I know nothing about Ohio, but I do know the Yale law school and when I saw him making shit up in that area I wrote off the whole book as bullshit. When a writer of a memoir is caught in a lie you can't believe anything they write.

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That part of the book was almost entirely focused on his wife. It said very little about Yale.

So have you, BTW. You've now mentioned it 3 times now without actually saying what Vance got wrong about it.

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White people can't be poor. That's the narrative.

Embrace it or you're a bigot.

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The woketarded narrative.

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Have you see it or is this what you're taking from the trailer?

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No, from the article.

And yes, I've seen it.

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Is it as bad as people are saying?

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No, it's fine.

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Yes, it is bad. Not recommended.

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Yeah I was thinking that if this was about blacks in the ghetto they would be made to look sympathetic.

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The film ‘Precious’ wasn’t sympathetic about blacks in the ghetto.

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Well, "Precious" was sympathetic to Precious herself, but not her parents.

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Was it? Precious was cruel to the neighbor child and stole from people, that doesn’t paint her as sympathetic.

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She was molested constantly until she got AIDS. I mean, she wasn't perfect, but she is the protagonist in the story, who we're supposed to root for.

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Pretty much all of the people in this movie are sympathetic.

The only thing close to an unsympathetic villain is one of the elitist snobs at Yale.

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If I have to pretend to believe in lies to not be a bigot, then I'll proudly own up to being a bigot.

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Poor Ron. First "Solo". Now "Hillbilly Elegy". Will his career survive? He's frightening the men with the money. He won a few good karma points with his doc on the wildfire that destroyed Paradise, California.

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Poor Ron?

Look at his filmography. He does way more crap than quality.

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Never thought Howard was a good director. None of his movies are that good.

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Agreed. He is one of those directors who misses way more than he hits.

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I watched the trailer on YouTube and all the replies under it praised the film. For those who have seen it, what is the major complaint?

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That's an All Lives Matter kind of movie. Timing of the release is one of the most common complaints.

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So are you saying because it involves poor white people it’s somehow linked to all lives matter?

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I have no idea what they are trying to say, what I can say is, although I found the main actor a bit annoying at times, I thought the movie was fantastic.

Heartbreaking, gritty, touching, Amy Adams was convincing as she usually is.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and was frankly surprised to see these reactions.

It had nothing whatsoever to do with All Lives Matter.

I guess because the word Hillbilly is in the title people think it's made for anti BLM people or pro ALM people which is ludicrous. It's just a movie. About a persons life growing up.

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Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I might have to give it a watch.

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I don't know the mechanics of this board yet so I don't know how to obscure spoilers so read at your own peril.

From a technical perspective the movie is very competently made. As it is directed by Ron Howard that goes without saying. He has decades of experience. Also as this is a biopic you would think that Howard would do great as biopics and historical fiction is really what he does best. Holy shit was this a dud of a movie.

On the acting:

- The Lead Actor has all the on screen presence of a block of wood. It is mind boggling that Howard cast that actor for that role.
- Amy Adams was a too over the top too many times. She was just unbelievable.
- Glen Close was incredible.

The primary dramatic tension of the story is a Princeton Law Student jeopardizing a chance for a lucrative summer intern to deal with his mother's latest drug rehab problems. Which is a head scratcher. What are we supposed to care about there? That he might not get the internship or that his mothers bullshit is fucking him over...AGAIN. The whole movie is centered on his mother fucking over her life and throwing the lead characters life into turmoil because of her drug addiction.

Drug addiction is a terrible thing and drug addicts abuse and destroy everything they touch.

Are we really supposed to enjoy watching the lead victimize himself for his mothers bullshit..

And finally the title of the movie doesn't make any sense. It is called Hillbilly Elegy. The only Character who could be considered a hillbilly is the grandmother, played by Close. That character ran away from Appalachia at age 13 pregnant with the Amy Adams character.

The movie is not an ode to the virtues of being hillbilly at all. It is a movie about a dumb shit who allows his mother's bullshit to prevent him from getting to a job interview...

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That’s a shame to hear about Adams, as she’s usually quite convincing. As soon as I can get to watching Netflix I’ll give it a viewing and report back. Great first post and welcome to Movie Chat! 👍👍

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If that's your take you are one simple minded moron who no-one should pay attention to

I think a kid who grows up in that environment and makes it to fucking Yale is incredible. But I guess you don't cause he's white.

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