Review of Hillbilly Elegy (2020) by Jesuisandre — 24 Nov 2020

Perhaps the most telling shot of Hillbilly Elegy comes when everything is still fine and dandy, one happy family. Mamaw insists on taking a family shot of that fine moment, which then traces back across generations in that same house - it's a simple montage, reminiscent of Spike Lee's authorship, that says more volumes than the dialogue is so obsessively trying to convey. It says, without necessarily pronouncing it, one of the already most quoted phrases "Family is only thing worth goddamn" without uttering a single word. It also announces something tragic is about to happen, and something that is much more hereditary than just following the American Dream or die trying.

I wasn't a big fan of Vanessa Taylor's The Shape of Water, because it put way too much emphasis on archetypes, and once again, it shows here. That said, this is likely to be most quotable film this side of COVID19's pandemic. Contradictory much? You'd think, coming from a social media frenzy.

In fact, Opie's camp opus is in fact all the things at once, dialed up to 11. He manages to be snarky about the irritating neoliberal job interviewers J.D. so fairly calls out for, but he depicts white trash misery like a liberal.

I'd say, despite all the archetypes, everyone is depicted in this film as a Neutral Terminator, except for three people: Lindsay, J.D. and his then girlfriend (now wife) - precisely the last generation of this family. He gets into serious flashback and wig play, and yes, this is as baity (90s bait at that) as advertised. And yet, everything here is grand - cinematography by the great Maryse Alberti captures brilliantly the clash between two mindsets, two eras, while the "rustic" countryesque score by Hans Zimmer in partnership with David Fleming is just as exquisite.

Howard's obsession to film piss (first from a dog, and then from J.D. himself) is funny, because as we know, urine is sterile, and so is usually an Opie joint. Yes, politics were conveniently removed from here, apart from Al Gore and Lewinsky mentions by J.D.'s younger self - even those references try to put this Good Terminator in a Democrat path. But to deny that Howard hasn't always been like this, now that's **** up.

Oh, the actresses. Say what you will, but you've never seen Amy Adams and Glenn Close like this. Close's Mamaw in particular injects a humanity with her tradictional eye acting, and close up moves, that is way beyond the pages. The film (and the book?) looks up to both of them as no necessary losers by themselves, but as women who either gave up of the rigged system because of bad parenthood (Bev) or... well... decided to amend the wrongs they did in the previous generation (Mamaw, obv). And then there's Haley Bennett's more...subtle deglam, as a field spectator of the mess/one of the viewer's eyes.

So, yes this is Mommie (and Mamaw) Dearest by Ron Howard, which means he finally let it all out, but not without sanitizing all the area before filming.

Two quick final notes:

1) Bev rollerskating in Intensive Care to the sound of Banamarama's Cruel Summer is such a 2020 mood.