I don't really know what to say about this film, it was better than what the critics have been seeing but far from the spectacular masterpiece it should have been.
Taking place over essentially a thirty-six hour time period, it traces JD Vance (Gabriel Basso as the adult, Owen Asztalos as a teenager) as he tries to navigate a fancy dinner at Yale with attorneys so he can score a killer summer internship so he can pay for law school when he gets a call from his sister, Lindsay (Haley Bennett) informing him that his mother, Bev (Amy Adams) overdosed again. Over the course of two sleepless nights, with plenty of flashbacks included, we learn of how JD is trying to overcome his past even though it keeps sucking him back in.
We learn how difficult JD's childhood was and while it was interesting, Bev's downfall would have been much more interesting how she went from being second in her class to putting herself through nursing school as a single mother to becoming addicted to painkillers and going from man to man. Bev loves her kids but the moment they say anything that rubs her the wrong way, she resorts to violence, still, JD refuses to tattle on her to the police when given the opportunity.
His main ally is his grandmother, Mamaw (Glenn Close) who loves him but also wants him to help his mama pass a drug test. After she lets him move in with her, she's both nasty but sacrifices for him and puts him first, something his mother rarely did. Because of her sacrifice, he gets a job and starts to work hard at school and excels, joining the army, going to college and then entering law school.
While the plot is sort of paint-by-the-numbers, Close is great though she isn't really given the opportunity to shine until the third act, Adams was both good and miscast at the same time, going a great job in a role that doesn't seem to suit her sunny desposition. Basso also manages to shine in a bland-ish role. Bennett is steady throughout. I just feel that overall, this film was a missed opportunity of epic proportion, despite the really, slightly gritty feel of the film with solid score. Grade: B
Side Notes:
-Freida Pinto is also good as JD's law school girlfriend, Usha, whom he eventually marries. She also manages to look the same as she did in Slumdog Millionaire, more than a decade ago.
-We only get a taste of Bev's childhood, but it was also quite terrible but Mamaw was stronger than her and fought back bitterly.
-We also never get an explanation of why Papaw (Bo Hopkins) lives separately from his wife, daughter and grandkids.
-Aunt Lori, Bev's sister, is mentioned but never shown.
-The father of Lindsay and JD, whether the same or different, is never mentioned either and that information would have been helpful.
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