Review: ‘Hick’ Is Misery Porn at Its Emptiest
Hick is an ugly piece work. The worst kind of bad. It’s a movie that believes it has something to say, but has nothing – a nothingess that comes after 90 minutes of misery. It’s a vapid mess about a girl who, despite encountering nothing but terrible acts, the movie seems to watch coldly from a calculated distance.
That girl, Luli (Chloë Moretz), a 13-year-old kid from Nebraska, sets out to Vegas after being abandoned by her mother and drunk of a father. She comes from a world where a gun is a nice birthday gift for a kid, where 13-year-olds awkwardly quotes Sunset Boulevard, and where Eddie Redmayne is forced to play a poor man’s take on Kit from Badlands, all these phony details are used to establish we’re in a dark and heightened world that never feels convincing. It’s like uncanny valley in tone.
Or is this intended as our reality? Director Derick Martini never seems to strike the right tone.
This is a movie which features an argument over how to mix a 7 and 7, with the great Ray McKinnon having the dishonor of conducting all the yelling on the matter. What narrative or character purpose does this scene serve? Don’t ask, because it’s difficult to answer. McKinnon’s character isn’t of importance, and neither is the right way of mixing a 7 and 7. This scene, amongst many others, is a typical example of moments where the only response is to raise an eyebrow and wonder what sort of atmosphere is the filmmaker trying to create.
There’s zero control over the extremist nature of the picture. Even in what should be the most severe moments, the consequences (physical and emotional) don’t connect as hard as they should. There is no impact, and the film quickly moves back to its flimsy narrative with a shrug. Some truly ugly acts feel glazed over. Unfortunately, Luli isn’t the only character shown with zero empathy, because her and the rest of the cast seem to be painted with such broad strokes.
The characters get tortured but with little meaning. The only actor allowed to provide an ounce of realism is Alec Baldwin, who gave one of his best (and most overlooked) performances in Lymelife. However, his presence is what you could call a cheap trick, basically Martini saying, “Not everyone in this world is terrible, so there’s hope for this girl!” The same goes for Rory Culkin’s brief appearance.
Hopefully Hick is the only misstep we’ll see from Martini. He’s a promising talent, but most of that potential he displayed in Lymelife is completely unrecognizable here. The only reason the film isn’t a complete abomination is Baldwin.
It’s admirable to make a film showing people at their ugliest, but Hick never knows what to say about these damaged characters or settings, never saying anything at all.
The Upside: Alec Baldwin.
The Downside: Martini is capable of better.
On the Side: Colin Farrell couldn’t appear in the film due to scheduling conflicts. To take a guess, he probably would have played Eddie Redmayne’s character.