How JD Vance Went From ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ to the Ultimate Celebrity Apprentice — Thanks to Hollywood’s Help
variety.comPeter Debruge Chief Film Critic On day one of the Republican National Convention, Donald Trump tapped JD Vance to be his vice-presidential running mate.
And with that announcement, a four-year-old movie — the Ron Howard-directed adaptation of Vance’s memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” — leapt almost instantly into the Netflix top 10.
For many Americans, that chicken-fried Bildungsroman will be their introduction to a veep with less than two years’ government experience.
In both the book and its middling Netflix adaptation (forgettable but for a fiery turn from Glenn Close as “Mamaw,” the woman who raised young JD while his mother was dealing with drug addiction and deadbeat boyfriends), Vance portrayed himself as an Appalachian kid from poor stock who’d escaped the Rust Belt for an Ivy League education and a lucrative career.
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