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Sitting at a 26% on rotten tomatoes, Ron Howard’s Netflix adaptation of JD Vance’s memoir, Hillbilly Elegy, failed to garner much love from critics despite its stacked cast. While some filmmakers in his post may have simply accepted the momentary loss – especially if they are lucky enough to have a career as announced as his –Howard. joined by Vance himself, took the opportunity to defend the film on Monday during an interview with CBS this morning, hypothesizing that the majority of critics based their negative reviews on policies that are not explicitly addressed in the film.
“I feel like they’re looking at political themes that they may or may not agree with that, honestly, aren’t really reflected or at the center of this story,” Howard said in response. to a question about negative reviews. ““What I saw was a family drama that could be very relatable. Yes, culturally specific, and if that fascinates you, I hope you find it interesting. If you are from the area, I hope you find it authentic, as that was our goal and our effort. But I felt it was a bridge to understand that we are more alike than we are different.
Howard’s ideas on relatability echo those of stars Amy Adams and Glenn Close, who recently spoke with NME. “I think the themes of this movie are very universal,” Adams said. “Whether it’s a generational trauma, whether it’s just looking at where we’ve come from to understand where we’re going and who we are. I think the universality of the film’s themes far transcends politics. Close added: “He was not done with politics in mind, it was done with Ron’s intention. I think he did a great job of telling the story of a very specific family.
But the seemingly pervasive problem with Howard’s much-maligned iteration doesn’t seem to have as much to do with politics as it does with maybe ridiculing the people the creators claim to honor. Our own Katie Rife talked about this issue in her review: “To give her just a little crumb of credit, Hillbilly Elegy, Ron Howard’s new film based on JD Vance’s 2016 memoir of the same name, doesn’t act as an excuse for white America’s toxic racism. But like these New York Times profiles, he views his subjects as zoo animals, offering the same lingering stereotypes about the Appalachians – namely, that he is full of people too ignorant to realize that they are victims of their own bad choices – peddled by Vance’s book. Richard Phippen also notes it in his film review for NME: “ By throwing out A-List stars and shooting in a brilliant format, Howard has built a movie that betrays the very people he’s seemingly trying to celebrate. There is nothing sincere about it, on the contrary, it feels like the Hollywood elite is spoiling it in a misguided attempt to speak some sort of necessary truth.
Despite the onslaught of negative reviews, Hillbilly Elegy hit Netflix’s t listop 10 tracks in its first week on the streaming platform, so it looks like the critics – no matter how unfair Howard and the company find them – aren’t preventing anyone from watching them.
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