The terrible Ron Howard movie climbing the Netflix charts
Movies hailing from big-name directors boasting recognisable stars in major roles always play well on Netflix, but not to sound too cynical about it, that’s not the reason why Ron Howard is experiencing an uptick in interest on 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy.
For one thing, it’s comfortably among the weakest features he’s ever directed, taking its place among the bottom tier of the two-time Academy Award winner’s output. Glenn Close did earn an Oscar nomination for ‘Best Supporting Actress’, but that was pretty much the only shred of praise it received.
Counteracting that awards season performance, Hillbilly Elegy was also nominated at the Razzies for ‘Worst Director’ and ‘Worst Screenplay’, with Close pulling double duty at the ceremonies highlighting the best and worst the industry has to offer with her ‘Worst Supporting Actress’ nod.
A bland melodrama that never shakes the feeling it was precision-engineered to serve as awards bait, the movie details the life and times of Gabriel Basso’s smalltown protagonist with big dreams, who has to overcome several personal and professional obstacles, not least those posed by Amy Adams as his mother and Close as his grandmother.
It’s a terrible film that was forgotten about almost instantly when it initially premiered on Netflix in November 2020, so why has Hillbilly Elegy suddenly enjoyed a massive resurgence that’s seen it become the eighth most-watched title on the platform among a customer base that’s north of 200 million subscribers? The answer is a simple one, and it’s politically-motivated.
Shite Ron Howard movies don’t tend to become involved in major elections, but because Hillbilly Elegy was adapted from the memoirs penned by JD Vance, people have been falling over themselves to see the politician’s life and times in live-action. He wasn’t much of a known quantity outside of the United States as recently as last month, but times have well and truly changed.
Vance is currently eying the second highest office in the land after being announced as the running mate of former The Apprentice host and WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trump, and the fact a feature based on his life happens to be a Netflix original nobody’s given a toss about for the last four years is entirely coincidental.
It’s been a case of one hand feeding the other, though, with Vance’s rise in visibility spurring audiences on to see what shaped him into the man he became, even if getting there necessitates a slog through 115 minutes of ham-fisted dramatics.