I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Good concept, poorly executed.

The tone of this movie is interesting -- the stakes are both dramatic and high, but it's balanced with a lot of fun, tongue and cheek dialogue.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

I just watched it yesterday, so forgive me for coming so late to the party.This movie was depressing, but familiar. My small town, while not as small as Rich Hill, has pockets of poverty which are similar. There are hundreds of thousands of very small towns which have the same sorts of issues all over the U.S. But that's not the point. The film makers came from this area and still were able to leave and make something of themselves. I think, if you aren't familiar with this sort of poverty, you might not realize it exists and THAT was their point.I loved Andrew, because he had so much hope. There was always a "reason" why they had to leave each home, even if it was because "God wanted us here". I could tell he was getting frustrated by the end, though. The 4th of July, when he bought fireworks for the neighbors and they set them off near the trailer park was great. Even though this took place a few years ago, the images were scenes of a life that could have happened 50 or 60 years ago. Quintessential, you might say of small town Midwestern USA.Even though Appachey's mom could be a bit rough, I felt like she was real. Right there in the trenches with her kids, doing the best she could and just letting it all hang out. She talked about not having choices and that was sad to me. Everyone should have choices. I hope she can find some way to get out of the place she's in and I hope Appachey goes along with her. There is some vestige of intelligence deep inside them both and I hope there's a way for them to reach it.Harley was a really sad case, but I felt even with all his problems, he was a good kid. It made me angry, though, when he was in the principal's office and was chastised and threatened for wanting to leave school. The principal showed very little understanding for Harley's problems and that was shameful. I do know the principal has a difficult job and likely some of his posturing was for show, but have a little sympathy. If something like what Harley has lived through had happened to his own child, I would hope he'd handle it better. I just think Harley would have been better served in a different environment. As always, the tough thing about these kinds of movies is things are never solved. At least, not the way we want them to be. There's a lot of repetition and a lot of undesirable generational behavior. As someone who tries to see the "big picture", it's frustrating, because just when one of these people has something good happen to them, they fall right back into their old behavior and it's gone again. They can't seem to see their options, if indeed they ever had any in the first place.

"Rich Hill" intimately chronicles the turbulent lives of three boys living in an impoverished Midwestern town and the fragile family bonds that sustain them.The camera could have been pointed at just about any city in America, whether in the Midwest or otherwise. But the fact this place is called "Rich Hill" and the story focuses on poverty gives it a certain kind of irony.This documentary is not pretentious and not inherently political. Some will want to put a political spin on it one way or another with their commentary about poverty in America and how to fix it (or how people get there in the first place). Some might even say this is not real poverty, as these kids are still getting by. But this is a snapshot of America circa 2014, and one that will hopefully look better in another decade.

This movie is well made and shines a non-judgmental light on what everyone knows is a big problem in Missouri and the nation. I think everyone knows people like this in whatever community you live in. Should these people be judged? What is the takeaway here? I do feel sorry for these kids living in abject poverty, with no way to better themselves... Who is at fault for this. Not the kids. Tobacco. Alcohol. Drug abuse. It's like the parents are physically present, but have a maturity level that is even lower than their kids. I don't know what this movie is really about, but it's 100% true, and it's kind of troubling to watch.

My wife and I both looked forward to seeing this at the Traverse CIty Film Festival. Living in an impoverished area of Michigan makes us have first-hand compassion for those who have so little. But this movie seemed to us to be little more than a repetitive and depressing look at families going nowhere. There was absolutely no arc in the documentary study of 3 young boys who ended up with little more knowledge or ability to cope at the end of the film than when it started. No one seemed any wiser or less clueless. The film follows 3 young boys (why not at least one girl??) and, unfortunately, two are clearly psychiatrically challenged. Only Andrew seems to have some ability to logically analyze his sad situation and the failures of the adults around him. Harley is "scary" unbalanced emotionally with huge outbursts of violence (especially so, when one sees him fondling knives in a store and knowing he will soon be legally able to purchase guns). Appachey is very similar. Both have completely unrealistic expectations of their future. It is hard for me to understand that the filmmakers say they come from this area and know this poverty firsthand. I see the working (and non-working) poor everyday as a physician who sees such patients. There are a few who resemble these boys and their families but most do not. When viewers see the families in this film continuously chugging down high-caffeine drink (and with the adults, beer), and chain- smoking, while playing video games day and night, it makes it pretty hard to be sympathetic. The poor in my practice hunt, fish, spend time with their kids, and basically do the best they can. These parents lay in bed all day and call the truant officers when their kids become too much for them. The images presented here just seems so far from the reality I have seen in my patients living in poverty. And, as I said, no arc and no story is being told except that these people are living an existence they are unlikely to ever escape. We were very disappointed.