Hillbilly Elegy

"Hillbilly Elegy" allows the audience to have an insight on the struggles faced by many working-class Americans. The depictions of several issues, ranging from addiction to family dynamics, made this film highly enjoyable. I liked the way J.D.'s family members were presented, as they closely resembled my imagination of them based on the memoir itself. Overall, a really enjoyable film with many heartwarming moments.

I preferred the book over the movie as I felt the movie was challenging to follow without prior knowledge of the book. Adapting a memoir written in JD Vance's unique style presented its own set of challenges. While the casting and cinematography were commendable, the portrayal of Appalachian culture leaned heavily on stereotypes, overshadowing other significant aspects.

Good movie for sure! It hopped around a good bit which was fine but a little difficult to keep up with. Book has way more details of course but overall I enjoyed it. Acting was incredible.

I enjoyed the book much better, I found that the movie was much harder to follow if you had not read the book, however adapting a memoir that was written in JD Vance's writing style is a difficult thing to accomplish. I can say that the casting was excellent and the cinematography was very good, however I give it two stars as I personally find it boring and confusing and there were parts in the movie that weren't as well draw out or emphasized as they were in the book.

This movie is a great watch for any teacher looking to show their students a movie in class. If it weren't for reading the book prior to watching it, the movie would have made no sense to a first time watcher. Aside from the story, the acting by each character was amazing and they truly played their respectable characters well. I give this movie a 3 stars out of 5 due to the lack of story in some parts of the movie causing these parts to feel slow and dragged on.

I did not necessarily like this movie. I enjoyed reading the book and all that had to offer, but watching the movie was not helpful for me. If you hadn't read the book then odds are that you wouldn't know what is going on in the movie. The movie jumps around from scene to scene, going from young J.D. to old J.D. and back to young J.D. and so on. The movie also makes some of the scenes very dramatic for no given reason and then slows way down a few seconds later. Overall, I gave the movie 3 stars because of the thought behind all of it and the adventure of what was going on. I couldn't give it any higher because of the reasons listed above.

The casting for this movie was perfect. I think all the actors played their roles very well. The movie for the most part stuck true to the book and allowed for the audience to feel what Vance felt growing up. The directors choice to have the movie switch from present to past while having JD Vance narrate was genius and it couldn't have been done any better.

I enjoyed the humor, and it does show a pretty good resemblance of how a family member who goes through addiction can affect the family dynamic, especially all that JD had to deal with his mother, Bev. Glenn Close's performance as the grandmother was truly great and made the viewing experience worthwhile.

I loved this movie! I highly recommend it. The casting was spot on. The only thing I would recommend is reading the book/ memoir of J.D Vance first because the flashbacks can be confusing and the memoir provides a little more context than the move. Overall love this movie!

To be honest I was supposed to be there in class to watch this but I ended up watching it by myself. Overall solid movie is it my type of movie? No but I would recommend it for someone that likes Drama.