The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

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The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

2009

1h 24m

Documentary

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56%

Tomatometer

9 Reviews

65%

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1,000+ Ratings

A documentary by director Julien Nitzberg, this film focuses on 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.

Perri Nemiroff

CinemaBlend

08/13/2010

3.5/5

The Whites are very screen-friendly subjects even if it's for the wrong reasons.

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Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

06/24/2010

3/5

[It] loses some of its anarchic steam as it goes. Still, it's a dang good bet you've never met any family quite like the Whites.

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A.O. Scott

New York Times

05/07/2010

4/5

Its governing spirit, captured in the raucous music that punctuates the story (including songs performed live by Hank Williams III), is one of outlaw celebration.

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Christopher Long

Movie Metropolis

11/12/2010

7/10

At the very least, the film will not allow you to dismiss them as caricatures.

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Bill Gibron

PopMatters

11/07/2010

5/5

...an instant classic.

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Andy Klein

Brand X

07/14/2010

... a slow-motion human train wreck that ... the audience just can't turn away from.

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Robin M.

@littlebushpig Apr 2

I'm not rating whether or not I like the people- that's not the point- my 5 stars are because this is a fascinating, sad,disturbing and alluring movie that you will watch (jaw-dropped) and tell your friends to watch because you'll need someone to talk to about it

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MaryAnn M.

@MWAMD Sep 20

See kids this is why you shouldn’t drink and do drugs

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Hunter Y

@RT54180120 May 25

An absolutely epic documentary on some very real, oddly charismatic characters. I recently watched this for a second time and had forgotten how both funny, sad, and human this doc was. You will not easily forget this one.

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David M

@RT33917482 Apr 24

This film highlights and glorifies the drug addict and white trash sterotypes about people from West Virginia. These people do not represent true West Virginians. These people are nothing more than system leeches that have spent their entire lives working the system. They are legends in their own minds and nothing but a group of drug addicted lowlife criminals.

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11/12/2021

Hilarious documentary that's really a cringe comedy involving a colorful (and criminal) West Virginia family. The White Family is filled with outrageously colorful and literally criminal characters who are endlessly entertaining to watch in a Jerry Springer sort of way. However, the filmmakers are clearly mocking their subjects and hold them in contempt, which makes the film seem less objective and more simply a sneering elitist hit piece on these uneducated criminal hill folk. Still, the White Family is so outrageous, it's a train wreck that's impossible to look away from and compulsively watchable.

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06/18/2018

Seeing Johny Knoxville as the Executive Producer, it doesn't shock me that this was a movie exploiting the biggest collection of hillbilly trash I've seen since Deliverance. While it's a decent documentary and very informative re: this disturbingly uneducated band of trash, the local Defense Attorney said it perfectly at the very beginning: a local kid got accepted to MIT. Why isn't a camera following him around? This documentary is a saner, longer version of Jerry Springer.

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Julien Nitzberg

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J. Parker Bazzle II

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Big & Rich

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Ponty's Camper

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Derek Wayne Castle

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Francis M. Curnutte III

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Synopsis

A documentary by director Julien Nitzberg, this film focuses on 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.

Director: Julien Nitzberg
Producer: Julien Nitzberg, Storm Taylor
Production Co: Dickhouse Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016
Runtime: 1h 24m

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