“Hillbilly Elegy” (** out of four) was an overall detached adaptation of J.D. Vance’s autobiographical novel about his (Gabriel Basso) upbringing in Kentucky with an abusive and drug-addled mom (Amy Adams) and how he later grows up to be a successful student who enrolled in Yale in love with a successful girlfriend (Freida Pinto) but still can’t escape the ties that bind at home. Adequate drama holds your attention without ever sufficiently engaging your emotions. For the first time, Adams is good without being fully convincing but Glenn Close is terrific (and almost unrecognizable) as the family grandmother. One of director Ron Howard’s more unusual films and one of his more disappointing.