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10:51 am PST 12/01/2020
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Hilary lewis
The director of the Netflix film starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close appeared on “CBS This Morning” with JD Vance, the author of the memoir on which the film is based.
Despite his all-star pedigree, Ron Howard’s Hillbilly Elegy, starring Amy Adams and Glenn Close, has been criticized online since debuting on Netflix last week.
The film, which had a limited theatrical release before hitting the streaming service, has a 27% freshness rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with The Chicago Sun-TimesRichard Roeper, one of the few major critics to give it a good review, writing in part that it is a ‘beautifully constructed, ruthless and heartbreaking family epic’.
VoxAlissa Wilkinson, meanwhile, writes that the film is “entertaining Hollywood, a rich idea of what it is to be a poor person, a deaf attempt to appease a very particular kind of liberal guilt.”
And The Washington PostMichael O’Sullivan criticizes him for taking an apolitical approach.
“[The film] avoids theories – more prominent in the book – that might help explain the opioid epidemic and the seemingly unbreakable cycle of poverty that defies simplistic solutions (but that might lead people to seek deliverance from a political stranger ) “, He writes.” The problem is that in doing so, the film leaves us, like [the main character’s] family, with only a growing pile of excuses for bad behavior. “
And Rolling stoneDavid Fear writes: “The politically conservative and anti-welfare streak in the author’s writing feels surgically suppressed; only the turbulence remains, smothered in the syrup … of seasonal molasses. No one would accuse this adaptation of owning the libs or complying with it’s just a poverty class cosplay, a pantomime of what people derisively call the triumph and tragedy of the “white trash” sold as a prestigious drama.
Appearing on CBS this morning On Tuesday, Howard suggested that those who criticized his film might aim for political issues, “I feel like they’re looking at political issues that they may or may not disagree with, honestly, are not really reflected or not. are not at the center of this story. “
He added, “What I saw was a family drama that could be very relatable. Yes, culturally specific, and if you are fascinated by it, I hope you find it interesting. If you are from the area, I hope you find it to be genuine because that was certainly our goal and it was our effort. But I felt it was a bridge to understand that we are more alike than we are different. “
Vance, who appeared with Howard via a video on the CBS Morning Show and has executive producer credit on the film, said the story “still resonates” today, just like four years ago. .
“I think the response to the film and so many emails and messages I have received since the film’s release suggest that it still resonates,” he said. “I think a lot of people attach specific political significance, but these issues of family struggle, addiction and resilience, I really think they’re timeless because we still have an addiction issue in this country, as we do. ‘did in 2016, so I think for a lot of the audience it still resonates. “
Watch Vance and Howard’s interview below.
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