As a Southerner, I take offense to the indicated imbecility of these people. Too many gaps that probably Yankees won't see, since the very subject matter feeds into the prejudice that we're all products of incest and stupid. But here's the funny stuff: I heard the author interviewed on NPR and he's from there, going into the army at 17 but then returning to record these people's cadences. When the recruiter, with a straight face, told the girl "It will take 4 to 82 weeks for you to get this $40,000", I thought I would erupt in laughter. And with a son in Kosovo, I can tell you, nobody's getting $40,000 to join. As the recruiting contract you sign states, "Nothing that has been promised to you verbally or on any other piece of paper applies......only this contract your are signing now." I'm paraphrasing of course. But too many of our cannon fodder children are believing the lies of the recruiters. Of course, in this case, he was shown as being straight. Maybe some are, as judged by their suicide rate, higher than the rest of the Army.
What else was funnY? OK, there's cocaine and crank easily available to give these poor hillbillies some surcease from the horror and hopelessness of their everyday life. But ALSO, there is plenty of 'legal' prescription drugs that are continually being offered to the girl when she gets beaten up and for the catatonic mom. I'm sure these offerings wouldn't have been given such high viewability if the director wasn't making a point: illegal/legal, what's the diff?
Thank goodness, one cliché wasn't carried through: nobody could play that banjo even though they held it and tried. If that little girl had taken off on Cannonball Express, the movie would have been completely phony, instead of somewhat. I suppose showing the girl on the trampoline was just another way of showing how dumb the parents/caretakers were for letting those kids up there with (toy) horses?
The character actors were pretty good, at least not OVERACTING. The beating wasn't believable, and we didn't actually get to see someone high on meth. With all the cooking going on, this was indeed a surprise.
The best acting was by Teardrop, the girl's uncle. I'll be looking for other movies he's in. And I hope that Ozark writer keeps putting those novels out because I think he's got a great novel in him, if he gets off the stereotypes and puts in some realism. There is just ONE thing that was completely real, unfortunately: for those desperate, ignorant people going into the Armed Forces and being shipped off to die in another country for Big Oil seems a desirable way out of their poverty.
I also very much applaud the setting of the movie in those two Missouri counties, for the sake of jobs. But would love to see on the DVD, interviews with the people who actually live back there in those woods. And, though this might be difficult, an interview with meth cookers would be GRRRRREAT!! maybe after they get out of jail.
What else was funnY? OK, there's cocaine and crank easily available to give these poor hillbillies some surcease from the horror and hopelessness of their everyday life. But ALSO, there is plenty of 'legal' prescription drugs that are continually being offered to the girl when she gets beaten up and for the catatonic mom. I'm sure these offerings wouldn't have been given such high viewability if the director wasn't making a point: illegal/legal, what's the diff?
Thank goodness, one cliché wasn't carried through: nobody could play that banjo even though they held it and tried. If that little girl had taken off on Cannonball Express, the movie would have been completely phony, instead of somewhat. I suppose showing the girl on the trampoline was just another way of showing how dumb the parents/caretakers were for letting those kids up there with (toy) horses?
The character actors were pretty good, at least not OVERACTING. The beating wasn't believable, and we didn't actually get to see someone high on meth. With all the cooking going on, this was indeed a surprise.
The best acting was by Teardrop, the girl's uncle. I'll be looking for other movies he's in. And I hope that Ozark writer keeps putting those novels out because I think he's got a great novel in him, if he gets off the stereotypes and puts in some realism. There is just ONE thing that was completely real, unfortunately: for those desperate, ignorant people going into the Armed Forces and being shipped off to die in another country for Big Oil seems a desirable way out of their poverty.
I also very much applaud the setting of the movie in those two Missouri counties, for the sake of jobs. But would love to see on the DVD, interviews with the people who actually live back there in those woods. And, though this might be difficult, an interview with meth cookers would be GRRRRREAT!! maybe after they get out of jail.