A Yale student must return home to an undesirable situation following a phone call from his sister which uncovers a heroine overdose hospitalizing his mother, but can he put the past behind him to work towards a better future? The audience is in for a shock with the flashbacks that take us through the turbulent past of J.D. Vance and his family relationships.
A transformation if ever I've seen one, the film follows a now college aged J.D. Vance, who receives news of Bev, his mom, being admitted to hospital. When he receives the phone call he knows that going home is the right thing to do, and this is when the viewer embarks upon a journey through the major events that have happened in his past. We see him as a child, with family sticking up for him against bullies - this is totally normal, albeit it is frowned upon for adults to have a pop at kids! From here we see how the family relate to one another, and some tensions are clearly visible but we are unsure as to their origin. Mamaw, grandma and mother to Bev, is the core of the family. She holds all of them together throughout the good and the bad. We are shown where the break down of the relationship between mother and son starts, and how that influences where J.D. is today.
Glenn Close is phenomenal as Mamaw, and I have to say it was probably one of my favourite roles I've seen her in. She is lovable as a grandparent but also the tough parent that Bev needs. I feel that if Mamaw hadn't have stepped in during J.D.'s teenage years this story wouldn't exist in the first place. It is hard to talk about movie points when it's about a real life situation.
An absolute transformation for the more often than not friendly and adorable Amy Adams, who portrays an awful parental figure in this biopic. I don't want to put down real life Bev, so I will leave you to watch the movie and make decisions for yourself based on what we're given as an audience, but it could not have been an easy role for her to take up.
Movies that cover any sort of abuse, whether that be physical, mental or substance related often fall under heavy criticism, as if the filmmakers are trying to influence people or are perhaps sharing something that is totally taboo. Whilst these topics can be unnerving and also hard to see I personally feel that the more light that is shed on them the better. This isn't a film that glamourizes any of these things, in fact it's quite the opposite. It shows can pulling someone out of these situations can 100% turn their life around. Everyone needs support in one way or the other and I think if this movie can give people hope that they can change their lives, whether the victim or the abuser, it is a great message to be received.
When it comes to rating the movie I did think it was very average watch. Most of the performances were excellent however I thought that the older J.D. actor; Gabriel Basso, was definitely not as strong in his performance as the younger J.D., Owen Asztalos. I found he was a little bit wooden in comparison to the rest of the cast. Whilst I can appreciate that he perhaps had less opportunity to bounce off some of the other cast members it did take away from the story a little. It could be down to the direction - perhaps Ron Howard didn't want him to display a passionate hatred towards his mom the way he did when he was younger, almost a maturity to show he had grown, but I think it was necessary. Perhaps it wasn't how it all went down in real life either, which is why it is really hard to criticise a film that is a true story! I also thought that there were some key points in the timeline that were brushed by too quickly, and could have done with more depth. We got a lot of early, and a lot of late, and not a lot of middle when it came to the story of his life. Maybe it was a boring segment and got skipped, I've not read the book so I don't know how true it is to the initial telling of the story. It is the epitome of a drama, so if that is the type of movie you fancy I would give it a try, and as previously mentioned some really strong performances to look forward to. It could go on to win awards as we know what the la-di-dah movie types are like, but I wouldn't consider it a rewatchable movie.
A review by CB
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