
2009 · documentary
Directed by Julien Nitzberg1h 26m2009
Produced by Johnny Knoxville and Jeff Tremaine for MTV and Dickhouse Productions, The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia is a documentary about the renowned West Virginia outlaw Jesco White and his eccentric backwoods family. In addition to getting in trouble with the law, the Whites, who live deep within Appalachia, uphold a time-honored dancing style, even as they contend with poverty, drugs and other issues. Alternately humorous and sad, the movie is an unflinching look at life on the criminal margins of rural mountain culture.
Our read: The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia (2009) reads as a sombre, kinetic, grounded documentary entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, cold in temperature, nihilistic in outlook.
Sombre, kinetic, measured documentary, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, cold.
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“You want a raw, no-holds-barred documentary following an eccentric outlaw dancing family.”
Skip it tonight — Skip if depictions of poverty, addiction and chaotic real lives make you sad or angry.
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