HILLBILLY ELEGY

Owen Asztalos     Gabriel Basso     Amy Adams     Glenn Close     Freida Pinto     Haley Bennett

     After a ride touring the horrors of addiction combined with credulousness, Ron Howard has made me feel as if I’d been there.  One watches this like a child in the drama, pulled in, but helpless to do anything about what is going on onscreen.  

     The main character, J.D. (Asztalos as the younger and Ballo as the older) is looking back on his life as a small boy growing up in the hills of Kentucky into a family strong on loyalty and responsibility toward one another, but susceptible to addictions.  Based on the memoir of the real J.D. Vance, it is indeed an elegy to the people who brought him up—some of whom have passed on.  It shows how strong family connections can be—especially if family has been its primary value—when this has been drilled into a child throughout.  The film likewise shows the sense of guilt that is a strain running through it.

     Young J.D. lives with his mother Bev (Adams) and older sister Lindsay (Bennett), with Grandma (Close) ever present.  He’s a bit clumsy, and this can trigger a crisis with his mother who is usually on a fine edge.  Susceptible to stress, she might take out after anyone, with no thought of the consequences.  Earlier in life, J.D. has been able to count on Grandma to rescue him from his mother’s rages, and later, his older sister Lindsay (read parent-child), who has become Bev’s primary responsibility.

     Through all this, with some luck and some of his Grandma’s guidance, J.D. has managed to make it to law school.  It’s a completely different world than he’s been used to (Uh…what fork do I use among three on the table?!), and he has some sense about the cloistered world of the Ivy League and how he doesn’t fit in.

     Luck often plays a role in success stories, and here one piece of luck is in J.D.’s romantic relationship with Usha (Pinto), a woman of Indian descent who has all the empathy and good sense lacking in his early life.  Intuitively, he grasps how different and how healing she can be, worrying that his troubles will drive her off.  As you watch this film, their interactions will serve as flight into reasonableness away from the cacophony of J.D.’s circumstances. 

     Ron Howard has established himself as a film director who can empathize with all kinds of people with major problems (e.g., A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man) and here he sheds light on not only the ethos of “hillbilly” families, but also the plague of addiction that has hit them so hard—opioids.  They are vulnerable because without the essential skills of parenting, open communication, and reasoning, families are unable to cope with the thrill of the moment, peer pressure, and economic need that prey upon them.  It’s a tale that needs to be told dramatically to get the point across.

     Glenn Close is her usual wonder to behold, almost unrecognizable here as a wizened old woman who has done the best she can, considering her life story. She conveys crusty warmth and encouragement, somehow getting through to the hapless J.D.  Because of the role she plays—despite how well she does it—Amy Adams is not so sympathetic, although seeing her in the grip of addiction makes one more empathic with those currently in its throes.  Gabriel Basso, Freida Pinto, and Haley Bennett round out a well-chosen cast to tell this poignant story.

 

Hard to watch, but a beautifully composed film that is eloquent in its depiction of the effect of drugs on an entire family through generations.

 

Grade:  A                                    By Donna R. Copeland

 

RULES DON'T APPLY

Warren Beatty   Lily Collins   Alden Ehrenreich   Annette Bening   Matthew Broderick

Ed Harris   Alec Baldwin   Martin Sheen   Oliver Platt   Candace Bergen   Steve Coogan 

          “It’s about sex and romance in the old Hollywood”, Warren Beatty (director and co-writer with Bo Goldman) says of his comeback movie, Rules don’t Apply.  “…and about American Puritanism”, he adds.  Hughes was someone who didn’t have to follow rules because he was a billionaire; we see the influence of Hollywood (where rules don’t necessarily apply) on him and, through him, on the people who worked for him.  When he saw Howard Hughes briefly in the 70’s, Beatty stayed fascinated with him, and although he began conceiving the film in the late ‘90’s, it took 20 years to bring it to fruition.  It’s not a biopic, but rather a take-off from Hughes’ reputation and creating a drama from that.  I liked it for its harking back to older Hollywood films in which storytelling is prominent and meant to be inspiring.

          Marla Mabrey (perfectly cast Lily Collins) is a young woman from Virginia who has turned away a scholarship to try her luck in Hollywood, and has been invited to a Howard Hughes audition.  She is accompanied by her mother, cheeky Lucy Mabrey (Bening), who soon becomes impatient with the Hollywood/Hughes slow tempo and goes back home. 

        Much is made of Marla’s Baptist background, and when her Hughes driver Frank (Ehrenreich) informs Marla and her mother that he is a Methodist, we see them connect.  Complications ensue when Marla and Frank have a kind of pheromone-like attraction to one another.  Keep in mind that it is strictly forbidden for any of the Hughes employees to socialize with any of his 20+ starlets.  Breaking this rule will cost them their job.  Of course, this is an unenforceable rule, but Hughes has the illusion that he is keeping tabs on everyone, and he has no qualms about the way he gets information. 

      The story then alternates between Hughes’ business activities and a couple of romances.  Humor is sprinkled occasionally into the drama, such as the starlets getting their weekly paychecks in envelopes sent down from a second story window on a string.  Hughes was known for his secretiveness, and the film spoofs this by having him constantly refuse to meet with people.  The issue becomes so heated, rumors circulate about his mental stability, and he has to ward off those who think he should be declared insane.  There is a curious disconnect between Hughes much of the time looking a bit senile, but at the end showing a sharp memory and being able to rattle off complicated business analyses and plans.

          Beatty as the star demonstrates again his acting skills, and in this role he’s portraying an eccentric older man who alternates between sounding demented and relaying complex information about his projects.  His directing skills are apparent in the pace and composition of scenes in moving the story along.  He was canny in his casting two up-and-coming actors, Lily Collins and Alden Ehrenreich, for the young couple who attend church and say the blessing before meals and then get caught up in the Hollywood lifestyle. 

          Caleb Deschanel is a known master of cinematography, and his talent and experience are apparent in scenes of the Los Angeles city- and landscape, the grounds where Hughes resides, and the mysterious door in dark shadow out of which Hughes slowly emerges when he does finally deem to meet someone.  Those “someones” are usually a part of Hughes’ staff whose jobs are always tenuous, but there are others too.  This allows for many interesting cameos from Alec Baldwin, Matthew Broderick, Martin Sheen, Annette Bening, Ed Harris, Oliver Platt, Candace Bergen, and Steve Coogan.

         Not much is new here, but some older viewers nostalgic about old Hollywood days may enjoy Rules Don’t Apply; it’s not likely younger viewers will, however.

A reminiscence of Howard Hughes and Hollywood in the 1950’s.

Grade:  C+                                            By Donna R. Copeland

THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN

Emily Blunt     Haley Bennett     Justin Theroux     Rebecca Ferguson    

Luke Evans     Allison Janney     Edgar Ramirez     Lisa Kudrow

          We meet Rachel (Blunt) on the train, see her scribbling and drawing on a pad, and listen to what is going on in her head.  She is clearly upset and depressed as she sips on a gin drink and weaves stories about the people she sees through the windows of houses.  Some are mixed in with her own memories, for she used to live in that neighborhood with her ex-husband Tom (Theroux).  Tom is married to Anna (Ferguson) now, and they have a child.  But a couple she sees in another house captures her imagination and her wish for a perfect marriage.  She has decided they are very happy together, an ideal couple—until she sees the woman in the arms of another man on the porch one morning.  She is furious with the woman, who reminds Rachel that her own husband left her for another woman.

       We learn that Megan (Bennett) and Scott (Evans) are their names, which Rachel discovers when she reads in the newspaper that the woman is missing.  Imaginative Rachel weaves a story around what she has seen, and without distinguishing between her fantasies and reality, she inserts herself into the case by going to visit Scott and telling him that she saw Megan with another man one morning.  Furthermore, she claims that she knew Megan personally.

      The film is good in this aspect of illustrating how memory is constructive, not photographic, and that many times, humans are prone to over-interpret what they see when they don’t have all the facts.  It’s of value as well to see how misleading and destructive it can be for someone with the best of intentions to muddy the waters when they assert themselves into situations where they don’t belong.

          The Girl on the Train is a mystery and a thriller based on the popular Paula Hawkins novel.  It’s easy to see how it would attract filmmakers like Tate Taylor, the director, (and a hungry public as well) with its intrigue, mystery, scandal, and chameleon-like characters.  The problem, is to some extent, a function of its success, in that the characters and plot stretch credulity.  The book (which I’ve read) and the film would benefit from toning down a bit.  For instance, brutal scenes that take place in a populated area near a tunnel with a fair amount of pedestrian traffic are apparently not observed by anyone else.

          On the positive side, the cast is very good, especially the star Emily Blunt in her ability to capture the complex Rachel, an imaginative alcoholic who appears spacey and impulsive much of the time, but can be smart and show genuine love and caring.  Haley Bennett as the mercurial Megan lives up to her recent reputation for playing sexy, strong, beautiful women.  Cameo roles by Allison Janney and Lisa Kudrow attest to their strengths in pungent character roles.  Men are not regarded too kindly in this movie, but Justin Theroux, Edgar Ramirez, and Luke Evans do justice to their roles and show strength behind their weak characters. 

         I have to complain once again about psychiatrists and other professional counselors being portrayed by Hollywood unrealistically in touching and hugging their patients and seeing them in their homes.  Mental Health professionals are all trained in how to deal with romantic pulls and patients appearing at our doors without an appointment—something not dealt with realistically in this film.

         This is a film that will appeal to those who enjoy being pulled into a web of intrigue and excitement and don’t mind a bit of implausibility or being “played” by the novelist/filmmakers.

What is seen from a train may be enhanced by a vivid imagination.

Grade:  C                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN

Denzel Washington   Chris Pratt   Ethan Hawke   Vincent D’Onofrio   Haley Bennett  

Peter Sarsgaard   Byung-hun Lee   Manuel Garcia-Rulfo   Martin Sensmeier

          A motley group of seven men recruited one by one by a Kansas Warranty Officer Chisolm (Washington) band together to rescue a farming town from the evil miner Bartholomew Bogue (Sarsgaard), who wants their land and is willing to give them only a pittance for it and simply kill them if they refuse.  Chisolm is retained by Emma Cullen (Bennett), whose husband was one of those killed, but he agrees only after she gives him a significant bit of information. 

          Gradually, Chisolm meets up with a few malcontents who join him for one reason or another:  card shark/gambler/trickster Faraday (Pratt), haunted sharp shooter Robicheaux (Hawke), tracker-with-a-tomahawk Horne (D’Onofrio), knife-wielding assassin Billy Rocks (Lee), Mexican outlaw on the run Vasquez (Garcia-Rulfo), and Comanche arrows and bullets sharp shooter Red Harvest (Sensmeier).  These guys are not only colorful in their backgrounds, they bring much of the humor of the movie (sometimes a bit corny), presumably to balance the extreme violence shown in the film.  All these actors are superb in their roles, and elevate the film above the mundane script.

          Chisolm sends the cowardly sheriff (Dane Rhodes) to take the message to Bogue that the townsmen will not give up without a fight, and that he and his men will be defending them.  When Bogue learns there are only seven defenders, he thinks it will be a piece of cake.  His lackeys put together a small army, and head toward the town.  But Chisolm is a strategist who is able to anticipate his enemy’s maneuvers, and has made detailed plans involving explosive booby traps, trenches, placements of shooters, and even weapons training for the locals.  The battle that ensues is bloody and long, complicated by a ferocious weapon mercilessly fired by Bogue.

          This remake of two earlier films considered masterful, one in 1954 (Seven Samurai) by Akira Kurosawa, legendary Japanese filmmaker, and one in 1960 (The Magnificent Seven) by John Sturges seems unnecessary.  There could have been more updates, such as modernizing and making more realistic—even for the 19^th Century—the Bennett character Emma.  For example, she defended the town admirably and saved Chisolm’s life, but he didn’t even thank her; instead, he took her gun away from her.  The filmmakers made sure that we would see her cry more than once, just to emphasize once again the stereotypical female.  Here’s a thought:  Include her and call the film The Magnificent Eight. 

          Musician James Horner should be acknowledged for his contribution to this film.  He had made considerable progress on the score, but died before the work was completed, so Simon Frangien was enlisted to complete it.  Mauro Fiore’s cinematography does justice to the exquisite western landscape, and his filming of the action scenes is artistic, as is the usual for him.

For western fans not bothered by mediocre remakes, this will hold your attention.

Grade:  C                                 By Donna R. Copeland