Completely flat and vacant film, with tons of talent that gets lost on the dilution of viable story. It doesn’t serve as much of a recovery story and the emotional arcs are stunted or non existent. A film like this needs deep emotional hooks and a fulfilling journey. But with this, I don’t feel like we get much of a character study or a momentous feel good (or even feel bad) moments. It’s simply a collection of pieces that doesn’t make much of a whole. And that says nothing about the moral, if such a thing exists, of “simply move on and up”; leave what you were and be better because you “work hard”. It flops like a wet blanket.
Does the world feel viable or the depictions of people from this area? Yeah. I have known some of these archetypes that Amy Adams and Glenn Close play so well. It’s not that they don’t feel legitimate or aren’t well done; they simply are not part of a compelling and fruitful story. It’s watchable and there are some elements (such as some of the acting), but I did not find the movie enjoyable, enriching, or a satisfactorily detailed tale.