Completely dissimilar from the original documentaries, but clearly inspired by them in terms of theme and incident. This most well captures the sense of desperate obsession, crazed addiction, (to 'Cilla, lighter fluid, his father's passing, or his own performance) and self-aggrandizing persecution. I found the depiction of Appalachia through b&w pans, bible radio and such terribly cliché, but at least in service to the film itself. Edward Hogg does a fantastic job of capturing not only Jesco's particular accent, but the rhythmic repetition and shifting emphasis in his speech patterns as he switches between extremes.

Carrie Fisher is no less captivating, although her 'Cilla is less showy and not as directly inspired by Norma Jean. The particulars of their meeting, violent and romantic encounters, her singing voice, and facility for cooking up sloppy, slimy eggs are all explored well. And Fisher is inspiring as neither nag nor victim, but as interesting a character who is well defined with less apparent effort.

But the direction this fiction takes is highly dramatized and loose, with Hasil Adkins' wild hoots accompanying Jesco's trip through self-destruction and vengeance. The cinematography becomes showy to an extent I found more intrusive than interesting, although at the same time Hogg's performance was increasingly good. It is not a case of difference from the angles taken in the documentaries, because this film makes its intent clear from the outset and maintains that difficult tone fairly well. But in the end, it felt like less a matter of character insight and more of sensationalized melodrama using exploitation technique.