In defense of Glenn Close as "Maw-Maw"
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 10:30AM by Juan Carlos Ojano
Adapted from J.D. Vance’s controversial memoir about his family in the Appalachians, Hillbilly Elegy opened to harshly negative reviews from critics, but the film is not really out of the awards conversation. What was seemingly a slam dunk Oscar contender given the pedigree of its cast is now caught in the critics/audience divide, something that has become a commonality these past few years (Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, Joker, etc). Just look at the critics and audience scores the film got in Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic.
ROTTENTOMATOES: Tomatometer: 26% / Audience Score: 85%
METACRITIC Metascore: 39 (generally unfavorable) / User Score: 7.9 (generally favorable)
The most significant Oscar push for the film will undoubtedly be seven-time oscar nominee Glenn Close for Best Supporting Actress. She plays Mamaw, J.D.’s grandmother and de facto guardian when his mother Bev (Amy Adams) spirals into heroin addiction. This role comes after a surprising Best Actress loss at the 91st Academy Awards for her performance in The Wife. Absurdly overdue for a win, Close came to this particular Supporting Actress race as a preordained frontrunner. However, the dismal critical reception of the film immediately cast doubt on her chances. Some now feel she won't be nominated at all. Or, that she doesn't deserve to be which is unfair on Close’s part, in my humble opinion...
Yes, the film has fundamental problems. The film would’ve fared better if it reconfigured the story and made it about the women rather than J.D. who is the least interesting character. There are also scenes that were ither haphazardly put together and executed (Bev threatening to crash the car) or questionably written (how many times do we have to hear that J.D. is a “good boy?).
But Close survives all of this. As Mamaw, she brings a performance that exemplifies her well-known skill and detail. While she could’ve easily done showboating (which many people have won statues for), she goes into the other direction, continuously subverting expectations throughout her performance. To say that this potential Oscar win for her is simply a makeup award is a gross misjudgment of the impeccable craft with which Close brings Mamaw to life.
Let's look at five key moments in the film that demonstrate just that. (SPOILERS)
SCENE 1: Bev, J.D. and Mamaw come home to find that Papaw is dead. (around 41 minutes)
In this scene, Adams takes the more active role as Bev checks on her father’s vital signs after they see him unconscious, declaring him dead, and goes to the phone. Close only has two complete sentences: “call an ambulance” and “how do you know”, said after Adams proclaims his death. Her presentness pervades the first line; she’s in fight mode. Her second line underlines the painful denial that is enveloped in the shock of the moment.
What comes after is a heartbreaking moment. The truth slowly sinks in, but the confusion of the moment is gone. Instead of bursting into tears, Close gets quiet. She absorbs the shock, heartbreak, and loss of the moment and carefully approaches Papaw. Close handles this moment not as talking to a dead person, but as an intimate final goodbye for a longtime partner. Her whisper now is the noticeable opposite of the brash tone that she has in preceding scenes. What remains is a mournful surrender and acceptance that is still filled with love and care.
SCENE 2: Mamaw convinces an objecting J.D. to give his urine sample for Bev. (around 1 hour 9 minutes)
Close arrives in the scene in the middle of a heated discussion. While a previous scene showed her calling herself a “good terminator”, this scene shows how far her goodness will go. With the weariness of old age and ill health, she is distinctly alert to trouble. Mamaw knows what is happening and weighs things before the decisive moment. With a lower register of voice, she asks J.D. to do something wrong for Bev.
Her delivery of “You need to help your mama on this” is multi-layered: she knows she is betraying J.D.’s expectations that she's the pillar of honesty in the family, but it is also a humble persuasion. She is not asserting her authority in this moment but inciting compassion from her grandson. Her beat of silence tells us that she isn't sure about her spontaneous decision either.
SCENE 3: Mamaw interrogates J.D.’s loser friends before kicking them out. (around 1 hour 25 minutes)
Here’s a scene that could’ve been just broadly comedic but Close is doing a lot. As in the previous scene, Mamaw can read people. She knows when and how to call bullshit, depending on who she is dealing with. Close comes to the two friends with what feels like an olive branch, asking about their names and maintaining a parental demeanor. But Close makes each line delivery count; with every succeeding question, she destroys the bullshit of J.D.'s friends and calls them out for it. She intends to show J.D. that he shouldn’t stick with losers and she shows him that through sneaky verbal combat.
It’s delicious to see Close put the two losers in their place without ever raising her voice. Even her “out!” command is delivered with effortless authority. Her next threat of running them over with her car isn’t delivered with empty badassery. Instead, it’s with the same weariness that exists in her entire performance that makes this moment of tough love even more endearing.
SCENE 4: Mamaw asks for additional food from the Meals on Wheels delivery guy. (around 1 hour 33 minutes)
A very subtle rollercoaster for Mamaw excellently played by Close. She starts all appreciative until she realizes that the food won't be enough. She then shifts into asserting what she knows she did right: she called for additional food so she is entitled to have it. When that doesn’t work out, she changes her tone and humbly asks for whatever the guy could give to her. She's not begging, so much as asking for compassion.
This is still the Mamaw that we know that keeps her dignity and is proud of what she is despite her imperfections. She doesn’t even finish the sentence and say the actual words to ask for more, but adapts to the situation. She mentions her own conditions as reasoning, but she is swallowing her pride for her grandson. It’s all beautifully done by Close. This scene serves as a catalyst for J.D. to start upping his game, but Close’s take on this scene is a delicious arc on its own.
SCENE 5: J.D. shows Mamaw the results of his algebra test. (around 1 hour 36 minutes)
One of the problems of the film is redundant situations in which people tell J.D. that he’s a good boy. This scene verges on that, but Close again upsets expectations. Instead of making this scene a schmaltzy congratulatory moment for J.D., Close plays her pride in him with beautiful restraint. Her health is worsening and her body language registers that clearly. Her “keep it up” is whispered, it's not in Mamaw’s character to just pat you on the back. She is keeping J.D. on track and knows that a single algebra test is far from life-changing.
When she goes to the living room and sits on the couch while looking at J.D.’s test paper, her quiet moment of small victory is wonderfully played; J.D.’s road towards self-improvement isn’t just his. Mamaw is along for the journey and cherishing this step in the right direction.
It is a mistake to diminish the work of any actor simply because the quality of the film around them is questionable. Close emerges as the clear MVP of this particular wildly uneven film. So no, her potential Oscar nomination and win for her performance as Mamaw wouldn't be a mere consolation Oscar. I'd argue it's a worthy addition to a lifetime of performances that amply show why Glenn Close is simply one of the best.
Reader Comments (54)
Close gets a lot of big moments in this film and she delivers theme handily. However,he Meals on Wheels scene is the best and demonstrates just how much she understands this character. It's the one where we understand the complicated emotions of pride, her love for her grandson, being in need, and community all in one.
I don't think this film is as bad as the critics allege. It's not amazing, but it feels too much like the easy Oscar-bait film to beat up this year. Overall, though, Glenn gives a strong performance.
I'd like to see her nominated, I guess, but winning for this would be such a disservice to her trajectory. She does deserve better and she's still working a lot. I hope she gets a Best Actress Oscar for a role worthy of her, and if it doesn't happen, we shouldn't settle for her having won for Hillbilly f*cking Elegy.
A persuasive argument.
It's so much easier to say "separate the performance from the film" than to stomach seeing a film you loathed be honored.
I think she gets in. By the way, Seyfried's role in Mank is small and of low impact in my opinion; unclear why she has been ordained the new frontrunner.
While the Meals on Wheels scene is Close's best in the film, I found other scenes so poorly written that she was simply torpedoed by the material. For example, I was utterly confused about Maw Maw's assertion that everyone is either a "Good Terminator, a Bad Terminator or Neutral." Also, in the hospital when she says that Native Americans are Indians- like the Cleveland Indians and they aren't magical people people because they don't have microwaves... I was literally WTF-ing aloud for most of her dialogue.
Funny. I thought her best scenes was the one in the car driving with JD. It was the only scene the script gave her where she was allowed to play more than just one action.
Doesn't deserve? I dunno. I'm waiting to see this one until the nomination actually happens. Shouldn't be, because a non-winning nomination (which is absolutely what it would be based on those reviews) for Close at this point is a sign of AWFUL decision making on the Academy's part? Yes. Same problem as Peter O'Toole in 2006. If the EIGHTH NOMINATION, for someone who hasn't won before, is DEFINITELY going to be a loser? DON'T. Give your number one vote to someone who hasn't gotten a nomination. You are being kind to TWO people (the highly nominated person who had no chance of winning this go anyway AND the fresh nominee), doing that, instead of being mean to four to six people (the three to five people who now resent losing the spotlight that might have been theirs if not for the highly nominated loser AND the highly nominated loser). Yes, I AM arguing that the most persuasive argument against the nomination isn't (exactly) the reviews of the movie itself, or the actual morality of making a movie based on JD Vance, but in "Awards Morality".
Matty: I mean, it's not HUGE, but this year is 1. Spectacularly empty in this category (2020 might just be the slimmest pickings in Supporting Actress since maybe 2006) and 2. In spite of how "small" the role is, she honestly also has the most of the entire cast to actually work with from a performance standpoint. Oldman does his best but is still stuck with a SUPER TROPEY central character, Dance and Howard have a bit to work with in their also kind of thinly sketched stock renderings, and succeed in as much as they can too, but everyone else has NOTHING.
It's a marvelous turn in a film that, while decidedly imperfect, hardly deserves the critical thrashing it's received. I think her finest scene is the Meals on Wheels one.
Close should have gotten more than one Oscar by now
Glenn keeps showing up in Lead, with Amy in Supporting. (Or at least two awards have done this already). I know this sounds bananas, but I honestly think Glenn has a better shot there. (Not condoning category fraud, just strategizing).
I feel like Netflix is more likely gonna rally behind Seyfried, maybe Burstyn in Supporting.
Meanwhile in Lead... so many of the presumed strong contenders have already won: Davis, McDormand, Winslet, Loren... The overdue factor would work in Glenn’s favor there.
Glenn also has the TRANSFORMATION element working for her. There doesn’t seem to be very many contenders in Hair/Makeup, so I assume HILLBILLY ELEGY at the very least gets in there.
Almost all the advertising for the film makes it seem like Amy and Glenn are the only characters, anyway. Amy is so bad in it, I can’t see her making it in Lead, but I could see her getting in for Supporting.
For what it’s worth, I love Glenn Close. It may be more the writing/directing, her performance does come off as ridiculous. However, greatness does spill out here and there. And I officially like Mawmaw. I would love to see her win, and I think it would hilarious if it was for this.
I can ALSO see the Academy remaining loyal to Ron Howard and nominating it all over.
I once read an old article entitled "Strong Performances Stuck in Failed Flicks" and I remembered three performances that were mentioned: Debra Winger in Betrayed, Christine Lahti in Running On Empty, and Burt Lancaster in Rocket Gibraltar (of the three films, I haven't seen Rocket Gibraltar). I guess 'failed flicks' here mean commercial and/or critical failures, and based on the evisceratingly negative reviews of Hillbilly Elegy, the film can be called that too. But I agree that Mamaw is a solid (re)creation - a character brought to vivid life by Close. While the film was mostly slammed, she emerged mostly unscathed. I don't quite get the reviews that focused on the screaming and histrionics between her and Bev (Amy Adams) when the scenes mentioned above showed restraint -- all convincingly embodied by Close. Particularly #4 with the Meals on Wheels delivery guy. Instead of milking the moment for (over)dramatic purposes, I thought Close became that woman who had to swallow her pride, state and simultaneously de-emphasize her financial status as an economic refugee so she can feed her grandson.
Hillbilly Elegy is lucky to have three women (the ABCs - Adams, Bennet, and Close) who registered strongly in the film through economies of scale in terms of acting: Close as the rural matriarch wanting to steer the family in the opposite direction from the life she led; Adams as a nurse who cannot get out from a vicious cycle of missed opportunities, broken dreams, and addiction, and Haley Bennet as a helpless witness to the violence around her: both physical and discursive.
I agree this is one of Close's strongest performances which might sadly be ignored due to the film's critical reception. But thanks for this insightful post.
Thank you Juan Carlos for this post. I still think (hope?) she can get in and finally win even if the movie has been so widely criticized.
Great article! Oscar for Glenn Close! She was divine!
I think she's got a shot at the nomination AND the win, especially in a field without a clear frontrunner. Remember when Bohemian Rhapsody got terrible reviews, then won FOUR Oscars?
Looks like audiences are liking this more than critics, and it was one of Netflix's most watched movies in November.
It's really a shame though that the movie isn't very good. If it'd scored above 70 on Metacritic, I think we'd be looking at slam dunk overdue wins for both Adams and Close. Bummer.
Nice article but if she wins for this I’ll shit. I don’t think anyone gets out of this unscathed - that scene with the calculator in the car is burned into my mind as among the worst in the film.
Not the turd that the trailer and Film Twitter promised. Sadly, not campy enough to be rewatchable. I blame Ron Howard for this.
It would have been a strong contender in the 90s. Close is fantastic and she'll be nominated.
@volvagia Geraldine Page finally won her Oscar with her 8th nomination.
I think the timing is going to seriously hamstring Glenn's chances. Think of Hillbilly as a September release and you realise that it doesn't have the legs to sustain any buzz. And when you've got Burstyn saying in interviews she'd like to break the oldest nomination record and Foster entering into the conversation with The Mauritanian I imagine the veteran slots have been taken.
The movie is simply awful.
That being said, Glenn Close does a good job, especially through skilled body language and facial expressions. The lines don't help anyone in the picture, but she surpasses them.
Is there someone better?
So hand her the Oscar, right away!
Lol. I knew someone was going to write something like that. Unbelievable that Glenn Close with her filmography doesn't have an Oscar or even two, or maybe three. What world is this in which Sandra Bullock has an Oscar, Gwyneth Paltrow has an Oscar and Glenn Close does not have an Oscar?
Hillbilly Elegy puts itself in that group of movies where the cast is very good/exceptional although the movie itself is not a big deal.
And I agree with everything written.
Unfortunately, I don't think she'll be nominated. Because of the reviews and the content of the book that isn't so bad, at least it's more honest than the movie. Glenn is always wonderful. Like Addams.
I am a diehard Glenn Close fan, but I don't want her win to be considered as one of the worst wins ever. She deserves better. Let's get real. Her performance for this movie is definitely not good.
It seems to me other Close fans just want her to win. If this was another actress, they would surely be up in arms.
She looks like Granny Clampett.
No... give her a Razzie. This just reeks of absolute desperation in the lowest form. Almost equivalent to Cuba Gooding Jr. in Radio.
People thinking she won't be nominated are falling into the Bohemian Rhapsody delusion trap.
No Razzie please. Just nominate her and get her to lose again for the EIGHTH time!
A nomination seems fair just because she is THE GLENN. But I don’t want to see her winning for a trashy de-glam supporting role in a bad movie.
Winning for playing a character called Mawmaw in a movie called Hillbilly Elegy would be the cruelest fate imaginable.
Has anyone seen what Ron Howard said in a Rolling Stone interview? He said Close actually downplayed the real character after speaking with family and watching home videos. Plus, I really feel people simply don't understand the characters or that they really exist. They do!
It seems like people are bashing what they don't believe is real or is overly contrived. If they've never met a Mamaw, how would they know? And critics ... most of them probably have never been near a struggling neighborhood before.
So much assumption and political agenda are at play here. Many forums of people who've seen the movie and grew up in a town and people like this can relate and enjoyed the film. It's the story of one family, not a political statement.
Again, I think people shoot their f****** mouths off with opinions as wide as their assh**** without doing the research. It's the era we live in. Everybody knows everything without investigating the backstories.
If Close earns a nod, the more power to her.
@Mike-Now why would we want to waste our time and do that? Take your political rhetoric and shove it up your fucking ass you dumbass millennial.
@ thevoid99 – I'm 62 years old, but your comment made me smile. You're full of hate, dude. Relax.
@ Mike
But isn't that precisely what you did in that first sentence? Why do you assume that critics are all some elite mass and not from "struggling neighborhoods" themselves?
Please don't waste your life on this garbage film, Glen Close fans.
I think it rich for commenters to post their opinion about Close’s award prospects not having seen the film.
I hope Close gets nominated, wins, and the haters seethe. They only think such a win will age badly because they want to will it into existence. Just like the critics who attacked the film, when it’s really not that bad and actually has subversive merits.
Great article!
Don't much care for the movie, Glenn was very good (though I still felt like I was watching someone in weird old lady drag). I'll reserve judgment until I see the other performances, but being the one good thing about a movie isn't actually that bad a place to start. I think she gets nominated and has a chance to win. Sure, I'd rather she won for a lead performance like Dangerous Liaisons or The Wife, but this is a deserving performance. Also, I think people like this film more than critics do, and we all remember Green Book & Bohemian Rhapsody from a few years back.
It's beyond me why people are rooting for her to be nominated and even win for this performance. She makes Renee Zellweger in Cold Mountain seem subtle.
If she won, she would probably have the distinction of winning for the lowest rated movie in Oscar history, right?
It is beyond me why this film makes people so pressed that they can’t see the subtleties in Close’s performance which is what this article articulated quite well.
“Lowest rated” is accompanied by the qualifier that critics subjectively went out their way to sink this film, which is if not unprecedented, than rare.
Close hasn’t won, let alone be nominated yet. And there isn’t any reason why her work here would be viewed negatively by history anymore than over half the winners in the supporting actress category of the last 25 or so years.
Good perfs included in poorly received films have been nominated many times and, yep, they also arrived to the Oscar. The Closedeniers are becoming very popular in social networks and so they will be happy if Close's perf will be unrewarded during the Awards Season, but actually the role is meaty and she's as always fab adding some nuances, even if the detractors will say "showboating and PERIOD!". Close recently stated that even if she has been Oscarless through a 40 YEARS LONG career she will refuse the idea of Pity Award, finding it disrespectful for the actors. I didn't like HE so much (even if critics panning was a bit overboard for me) but I admired Close's work and the support from Haley Bennett, Bo Hopkis and (why not?) Frieda Pinto (Basso is quite bland and Adams not always believable as the junkie mom). So thank U for this post and let the campaing begin...or go on!
I have been Glenn's #1 fan since the 80s, and she is the best thing about this movie. But it's not a great movie. I don't love that Glenn could win for this. But honestly, at this point, after losses to some pretty clunky performances, I'll just take a win at this point.
Did anyone watch the recent Vanity Fair interview with Glenn? She talks about how not a lot of great parts have come her way. And I wonder why. Is it the industry? Is it because she is clearly an introvert? Maybe her protests over the Fatal Attraction re-shoots lowered her standing with casting directors in Hollywood? Maybe it's because she is an East Coaster without broader appeal? Who knows? But I thought that moment in that interview was rather telling. I have always wondered why she's been the best thing in mediocre films. But maybe she really wasn't getting offered anything else?
I don't understand this assertion: "...is now caught in the critics/audience divide, something that has become a commonality these past few years (Green Book, Bohemian Rhapsody, Joker..."
Green Book has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 77% and audience score of 91% (hardly a divide).
Bohemian Rhapsody has a Rotten Tomatoes score of 60% and audience score of 85%
Joker has Rotten Tomatoes score of 68% and audience score of 88%.
These movies are nowhere near the article's stated divide for Hillbilly Elegy: "Tomatometer: 26% / Audience Score: 85%".
I loved this performance, full of subtlelties and great choices despite a script that doesn't seem to know such things, but as a die-hard fan of Glenn's, I agree. This should not be her winning performance. A Supporting Role in a critically panned movie with all the haters coming at her with all the vitriol.
It would be the most bittersweet version of the moment we've been waiting to happen forever. Of course, it will happen that way. But really, there have been worse performances winning in the last few years (actually, all of them in the last 6-7years, except for Regina King and maybe Viola).
Last time was THE perfect moment to reward her.
Oscar for GLENN CLOSE!!!
She is the best part of the film but that doesn't say much. It's a crap film. I love her but i am afraid she will be nominated for this and lose again to... Olivia Colman. Since Seyfried is good but her role small, i think that it mind end up being between Close and Colman. The last time Close had a great performance in an average movie like The Wife while this time she has an very divisive performance in a bad film. Colman on the other had and has excellent performances in excellent films. I can really see the narrative of the story being "let's see if Close will lose again to Colman, will they dare?" and in this case i think they will dare.
I loved this performance and am not ashamed to admit it. Close beautifully underplayed her scenes. If nominated she's going to win.
Glenn Close has the most difficult role and does the most from the Supporting Actress contenders this year.
She's still frontrunner to win, imho is the most sympathetic and memorable role that would make for a completely deserved Oscar and not only a career reward one.
I really don't understand the immense backlash the film has gotten. It's flawed and disjointed, but I felt like it had a lot of heart behind it and the principle actors seemed to be really emotionally invested in the characters. Glenn (who I'm not a fan of) was absolutely remarkable and would make an incredible winner. She took what could have been an "over the top grandmother who's tough as nails but has a heart of gold" and turned her into an incredibly subtle character that was genuinely complex and rich.
I'd also go as far to say that Haley Bennett should be in consideration for truly bring forth subtleties in her IMMENSLEY underwritten character despite her character maybe being in the worst position of all: overlooked by the family yet responsible for holding it together at the seams.
@ Working Stiff – You definitely have a point. I haven't seen an interview with (or even a photo) where a critic looks like he/she is too worried about his/her next meal. Or if they have struggled, it seems like they've forgotten where they came from. I don't want to use the words, but complacent, putzy, and possibly self–righteous come to mind. I realize that's a hugely biased answer, so if I'm wrong, I'm wrong. But my gut reactions are usually right. I'm just saying ... .
I do like some of the recent posts here though. It's nice to see constructive points being made as opposed to merely bashing or trash talking. My comment about critics may have been unfairly harsh, but I did elaborate to justify my opinion.
I like Glenn Close, and I've seen almost all of her TV and film work. I think she deserves a nod for HE from the films I've seen this year, but I haven't seen everything. Out of the popular contenders thus far that I've seen, she's great. Winning is a different story when politics, traction, popularity, flavor of the moment, lobbying, etc. come into play.
Mike -- You don't seem to know, follow or befriend any critics. A lot of critics struggle financially, most of them probably. From personal experience, trying to earn money writing about cinema is an uphill battle with more defeats than victories, at least in Portugal.
Regarding the piece, I'm not as enamored by the performance as some, but I think it has a lot of strong elements. As I said on Twitter, when Glenn Close hears of her grandson's grades, there's a pause, a look so complicated in its permutations of surprise and pride, relief and exhaustion, that I almost wanted to applaud. HILLBILLY ELEGY is bad but it's got some good hidden beneath mountains of mediocrity.
@ Mike:
Hello! I usually don't do this, but I do want to say that not a lot of critics are living affluent lives, as far as I know. And especially doing this pandemic, with the film industry vastly affected by it, it is also taking a toll on critics financially.
I don't know which film critics are you actually referring to, but the film critics that I do know, a lot of them do it for the love of film while they juggle other job(s) to make ends meet. When you see film critics dressed up or made up, it is all part of the job. They wouldn't want to talk to filmmakers and artists looking like a mess.
I, for one, am not doing very well financially. I can't count the times I have written articles and recorded and edited episodes on my podcast on an empty stomach and lack of a stable job. And I still live with my family and receiving financial aid from relatives so I am one of the lucky ones.
Critics write from what they know and believe in. They put in the work, but it is still very much subjective. If you disagree with critics (trust me, I do at times), then I hope you engage with the same constructive criticism that you like seeing.
However, please do not assume that you know their lives.
Thank you and have a good day.
First of all, shout out to Seggy Poo for your comment which almost made me wet my pants. Secondly, I want to say that Hillbilly Elegy was one of the most disappointing films I have seen in a long time. I guess I thought the array of Ron Howard as director and Close and Amy Adams as stars was a sure bet. Still don't understand what went wrong (script? direction?) but I was underwhelmed to say the least.
I'm for any Oscars with Adams or Close can pick up. They are both far overdue. Glenn Close deserved an Oscar for Fatal Attraction in my book and Amy Adams for American Hustle.