The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia

2009

1 hr. 24 min.

Documentary

List

60%

10 Reviews

Tomatometer

65%

1,000+ Ratings

Audience Score

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.

Read More

Read Less

Prime Video

Apple TV

Rent The Wild and Wonderful Whites of West Virginia on Prime Video, Apple TV, or buy it on Prime Video, Apple TV.

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I feel as though the filmmakers only focused on the negative of the family. They also gave incorrect info about the WV court system and managed to make the state look bad.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/17/23

Full Review

paul r

If you wanna know why Jackass movies stopped getting made, it's because they had to make this instead. Utterly amazing.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

Audience Member

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.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/16/23

Full Review

Audience Member

What starts as an Outlaw trainwreck finishes as a White Trash trainwreck. Then again, what's the difference? Knoxville & Tremaine's doc is completely exploitative. But the Whites obviously love attention any ways.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/24/23

Full Review

Audience Member

It's watchable but very depressing. There are dysfunctional families and then there are the Whites. Not to mention this story is rather scattershot with no real narrative.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

02/20/23

Full Review

Read all reviews

Post a rating

Julien Nitzberg

Director

J. Parker Bazzle II

Actor

Big & Rich

Actor

Ponty's Camper

Actor

Derek Wayne Castle

Actor

Francis M. Curnutte III

Actor

Show Less Cast & Crew

Show More Cast & Crew

Discover more movies and TV shows.

View More

View more photos

Linda Barnard

Toronto Star

Rated: 2/4

May 18, 2012

Full Review

Perri Nemiroff

CinemaBlend

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

Rated: 3.5/5

Aug 13, 2010

Full Review

Gary Goldstein

Los Angeles Times

[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.

Rated: 3/5

Jun 24, 2010

Full Review

Christopher Long

Movie Metropolis

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

Rated: 7/10

Nov 12, 2010

Full Review

Bill Gibron

PopMatters

...an instant classic.

Rated: 5/5

Nov 7, 2010

Full Review

Andy Klein

Brand X

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

Jul 14, 2010

Full Review

Read all reviews

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
Executive Producer: Johnny Knoxville, Priya Swaminathan
Production Co: Dickhouse Productions
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 10, 2016

Most Popular at Home Now