GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

Konterr Brilliant and touching

Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

casey133 i read a lot of people saying that they made a more or less fool out of everyone here, that the jobs are good if you just look, that we don't try for ourselves. like it or not this film is correct in 95% of what it said, and as far as us not trying. you come here and live and see how far you get when we take all you have away from you. you wouldn't last. its well worth watching and in spite of what others say, it is correct in the information it gives. i don't know why people are saying its not the way this place is, maybe they don't want to admit it. i invite anyone to come here for a week, or even a weekend... see for your self. i would tell anyone who wants to know what this place is like but don't want to visit or don't have the time/money to visit, rent or buy this doc. well worth the money.

bsmstewart Honestly, I don't know why anyone would consider this movie to be a documentary. Then again, I suppose that calling it such is just a convinient way to catalogue it as opposed to quibbling over it being a mockumentary instead.The movie mentions Hazard as being the closest town. Congratulations, that's where I've grown up. Believe it or not, there is actually an amount of economic prosperity there that people wouldn't believe. Why do I say that? Because Rory Kennedy goes to great lengths to make very sure that it is never seen and depict Eastern Kentucky as a Twilight Zone holdover from the 1890's, only with newer vehicles.In a movie meant to showcase the determination and the ability of a family to survive in extreme economic hardship, I simply wonder how hard Ms. Kennedy had to work to make sure that this was the most blatantly discriminatory piece of work that she could come up with. Granted, you had people that didn't work, but moving wasn't exactly an option. To give up a home that you have, in a place that you know to move somewhere but not have the funds to establish a home is always a good move, is it not? The accusations thrown around about Clint have also been amusing since Paris Hilton has proved to be far worse than Clint ever thought about being. I'd also like to point out that the locale was terribly convinient. The difficulty in getting jobs into Eastern Kentucky is due to these wonderful stereotypes and the fact that this film could have been done in ANY state in the nation doesn't deter anyone for an instant.I honestly, in good faith, cannot recommend this film. It is a textbook case of making sure that the footage fits what you want to depict. I do not care what Rory Kennedy has to say, this film is nothing more than a series of strung together scenes meant to make a family struggling to get by into another, stereotype-perpetuating joke. God save us from another elitist moviemaker.

cmjust0 I lived in Eastern Kentucky for the first 11 years of my life, and visit there pretty often. I have seen these living conditions first hand. I must say, however, that this is not the norm. Most people in Eastern Kentucky do not live this way. At least not in a material sense. Most people in Eastern Kentucky, the Bowling family included, do share one common trait; strong ties to the family. People seem to only see that these people have no running water, and live in isolation in a "holler," but what people don't often recognize is how present the extended family is throughout this movie, and most likely throughout the entire lives of these people. How many of us can say we could walk to our grandparents house? Personally, I think that would be pretty nice. People don't see what's right though, they see what's wrong. Historically, people love to criticize others who aren't as wealthy and educated as themselves, and this family seems to be socio-economically "below" most of us. That makes it very easy for most of us to call these people a "waste of taxdollars," and to say that they could find jobs if they really wanted to. The simple fact of the matter is that there are no jobs. I know, I've been there. We moved for that very reason. You may be asking yourself right now why they can't move as well. Imagine yourself for a moment with no money whatsoever, and no way to get ahead in life. You can't very well sell your existing house to buy another, (remember, their combined property value wasn't enough to pay the bond for the release of one of the brothers from jail) and you can't move somewhere else without a house to move into. Before being critical of these people (as most are), ask yourself this question. What would I do if I had no money, no education, no transportation and no job? The first thing to do is get a job, right? But wait, I have no education or transportation. Ok, I'll get an education first. Wait, I have no transportation or money. Ok. I'll get transportation. But I need money for that. I'll save money and get a car. Can't do that, because I have no job... It's a vicious cycle. The only way to break that cycle is to start teaching the children that there is a better life, and show them how to get there. Most adults in Eastern Kentucky understand this. The old saying is that they need to teach the 3 R's in school: Reading, Writing and Route 23. And yes, we know that "writing" doesn't start with an "R." It may take a few precious tax dollars for the government to send these kids to college, but I think we can all see that it is worth it.

Memlets If Rory Kennedy meant her documentary, "American Hollow," to show us a poor Southern rural white family as something more respectable than the disparaging hillbilly stereotype, she failed.Not only were those familiar stereotypes not dispelled in this film, they were played out before us.The film offers us snaggletoothed, alcoholic louts given to ridiculing their wives and kids. We see amazingly good-humored, unprotesting womenfolk who do all the work of keeping the family together and fed, with little help from the men.The chronically unemployed men in the Bowling family simply won't leave to find work and a better life outside the hollow in their part of Kentucky where there are few job prospects.Worse, they actively encourage failure in the "young'uns" as well.I suspect we're supposed to believe that the Bowlings are nevertheless noble because they have deep roots on the land they've been unemployed, impoverished, and uneducated on for generations. My grandparents came across the Atlantic to America because they couldn't make a living in the old country. I think that's far more courageous (and American) than staying in a lousy situation with no hope.Poor rural black folks have to contend with racial discrimination when they go to the city for job opportunities. By contrast, the Bowling men, most of them blond, wouldn't have that hurdle to jump. But no, they stay resolutely mired in their hollow.I'm a pretty soft-hearted person, but I lost my respect for the Bowling men in the first ten minutes of the film.However, even if most of the subjects of this documentary aren't appealing, the film itself is well-made. I did learn one thing from "American Hollow" -- that love-sick teenage boys and the sweet young things who lead them on are the same the world over.