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Critical appraisal
Rob Schneider, Roger Ebert, Citizen Kane and hillbillies
A few minutes ago, someone in a Facebook group I follow made a reference to “Hillbilly Elegy” and another member of the group, unaware of the new film adaptation, responded, “you mean the book?” He was quickly brought up to speed.
I chimed in as well. If he was a reader of the book, he might be pleased to learn about the movie adaptation, but I warned him that I’d read several negative reviews, the common thread being that the movie (which I have not seen, and thus have no opinion on) condescends to its Appalachian setting rather than trying to understand it. I’ve read this same basic comment in several different reviews, and that tends to make me take it more seriously. But I love Glenn Close, and it looks in the trailer like she does a great job with her character.
I don’t have Netflix right now, so for me it’s a moot point.
Anyway, I then read a story here on Medium with a scathing review of Rob Schneider’s new stand-up special, also on Netflix. That brought to mind a classic…
