How to watch the movie based on JD Vance’s book

Former President Donald Trump has a vice presidential candidate in the 2024 election: U.S. Senator from Ohio, JD Vance.

The 39-year-old has recently made a name for himself through his successful run for Congress and his public loyalty to Trump, but Vance first came onto people’s radar with his memoir, the best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy,” published in 2016 when Trump first ran for president.

You can find the book at your local libraries and bookstores (or online), but you may remember that there was a movie adaptation in 2020 starring some big Hollywood names. And if you want to peek into the mind of the possible future vice president, you can stream it right now.

What is “Hillbilly Elegy”?

Based on JD Vance’s best-selling novel, the film is about a former Southern Ohio Marine and current Yale Law student (based on Vance) who is on the verge of landing his dream job. A family crisis forces him to return to the home he’s tried to forget while he must maneuver through the complex dynamics of his Appalachian family, including his volatile relationship with his mother, Bev (Amy Adams), who struggles with addiction. He is also driven by memories of his grandmother, Mamaw (Glenn Close), who raised him, as he learns to accept his family’s indelible influence on his own personal path.

Directed by Oscar winner Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind,” “Apollo 13”), the film traces the ups and downs of three colorful generations of a family and their unique struggles.

Who is in the movie?

Actor Gabriel Basso plays JD Vance. Basso previously appeared in the films “Alabama Moon,” “Super 8,” and “The Kings of Summer.”

However, the film focuses primarily on the strong female leads. Oscar nominees Amy Adams (as Beverly “Bev” Vance, JD’s mother) and Glenn Close (as Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance, JD’s grandmother) can be seen.

Adams has been nominated for an Academy Award six times for her performances in Junebug, Doubt, The Fighter, The Master, American Hustle and Vice. Close has been nominated eight times for her work in Garp: The World He Saw, The Big Chill, The Indomitable, Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons, Albert Nobbs, The Wife and Hillbilly Elegy.

Sunny Mabrey (born in Gadsden, Alabama) plays young Bonnie “Mamaw” Vance.

How can I stream Hillbilly Elegy?

The film is currently streaming on Netflix.

Did the critics like it?

No, not really. The film has a positive critics rating of 25% on Rotten Tomatoes. The consensus reads, “With the form of a promising awards season film but the soul of a bland melodrama, Hillbilly Elegy strands some very good actors in the not-so-Deep South.” The audience rating is higher, however, with more than 2,500 reviews, averaging 82%. But critics have largely panned Hillbilly Elegy, scathingly panning the modern exploration of the American dream across three generations of an Appalachian family that nonetheless narrowly earned an Oscar nomination for Close.

Vanity Fair called the film a “Hollywood grotesque.” Vox began with the headline, “Everything about Netflix’s ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ is awful.” “‘Hillbilly Elegy’ is laughably awful in every way,” said Collider.

So why the negative reaction? Lawrence Specker of AL.com wrote, “The book became a sensation, and that sensation, in turn, sparked a deep, slow-simmering backlash worthy of a feud between Hatfield and McCoy. Yes, the metaphor is an obvious and cheap stereotype — but Howard’s project would definitely be greeted with rhetorical pellets from one side or the other.”

It somehow made Hollywood history…

Close joined a very short list of actors to receive both an Oscar and a Golden Raspberry nomination for the same performance. In fact, Close is only the third person to do so, after Amy Irving in “Yentl” (1983) and James Coco in “Only When I Laugh” (1981).

Oscar winners are familiar with the Razzie Awards, officially known as Golden Raspberries. Sandra Bullock, Nicolas Cage, Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Faye Dunaway, Julia Roberts, Al Pacino and others have earned the honor of being Razzie nominees and/or winners, some even accepting their “award” in person. John Travolta even won Worst Actor for his work in two films he shot in Alabama.

Close did not win either award. Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari”) won the Oscar that year, while Maddie Ziegler (“Music”) took home the coveted Golden Raspberry.