I just watched it yesterday, so forgive me for coming so late to the party.
This movie was depressing, but familiar. My small town, while not as small as Rich Hill, has pockets of poverty which are similar. There are hundreds of thousands of very small towns which have the same sorts of issues all over the U.S. But that's not the point. The film makers came from this area and still were able to leave and make something of themselves. I think, if you aren't familiar with this sort of poverty, you might not realize it exists and THAT was their point.
I loved Andrew, because he had so much hope. There was always a "reason" why they had to leave each home, even if it was because "God wanted us here". I could tell he was getting frustrated by the end, though. The 4th of July, when he bought fireworks for the neighbors and they set them off near the trailer park was great. Even though this took place a few years ago, the images were scenes of a life that could have happened 50 or 60 years ago. Quintessential, you might say of small town Midwestern USA.
Even though Appachey's mom could be a bit rough, I felt like she was real. Right there in the trenches with her kids, doing the best she could and just letting it all hang out. She talked about not having choices and that was sad to me. Everyone should have choices. I hope she can find some way to get out of the place she's in and I hope Appachey goes along with her. There is some vestige of intelligence deep inside them both and I hope there's a way for them to reach it.
Harley was a really sad case, but I felt even with all his problems, he was a good kid. It made me angry, though, when he was in the principal's office and was chastised and threatened for wanting to leave school. The principal showed very little understanding for Harley's problems and that was shameful. I do know the principal has a difficult job and likely some of his posturing was for show, but have a little sympathy. If something like what Harley has lived through had happened to his own child, I would hope he'd handle it better. I just think Harley would have been better served in a different environment.
As always, the tough thing about these kinds of movies is things are never solved. At least, not the way we want them to be. There's a lot of repetition and a lot of undesirable generational behavior. As someone who tries to see the "big picture", it's frustrating, because just when one of these people has something good happen to them, they fall right back into their old behavior and it's gone again. They can't seem to see their options, if indeed they ever had any in the first place.
This movie was depressing, but familiar. My small town, while not as small as Rich Hill, has pockets of poverty which are similar. There are hundreds of thousands of very small towns which have the same sorts of issues all over the U.S. But that's not the point. The film makers came from this area and still were able to leave and make something of themselves. I think, if you aren't familiar with this sort of poverty, you might not realize it exists and THAT was their point.
I loved Andrew, because he had so much hope. There was always a "reason" why they had to leave each home, even if it was because "God wanted us here". I could tell he was getting frustrated by the end, though. The 4th of July, when he bought fireworks for the neighbors and they set them off near the trailer park was great. Even though this took place a few years ago, the images were scenes of a life that could have happened 50 or 60 years ago. Quintessential, you might say of small town Midwestern USA.
Even though Appachey's mom could be a bit rough, I felt like she was real. Right there in the trenches with her kids, doing the best she could and just letting it all hang out. She talked about not having choices and that was sad to me. Everyone should have choices. I hope she can find some way to get out of the place she's in and I hope Appachey goes along with her. There is some vestige of intelligence deep inside them both and I hope there's a way for them to reach it.
Harley was a really sad case, but I felt even with all his problems, he was a good kid. It made me angry, though, when he was in the principal's office and was chastised and threatened for wanting to leave school. The principal showed very little understanding for Harley's problems and that was shameful. I do know the principal has a difficult job and likely some of his posturing was for show, but have a little sympathy. If something like what Harley has lived through had happened to his own child, I would hope he'd handle it better. I just think Harley would have been better served in a different environment.
As always, the tough thing about these kinds of movies is things are never solved. At least, not the way we want them to be. There's a lot of repetition and a lot of undesirable generational behavior. As someone who tries to see the "big picture", it's frustrating, because just when one of these people has something good happen to them, they fall right back into their old behavior and it's gone again. They can't seem to see their options, if indeed they ever had any in the first place.