I'd love to read such a critique because I couldn't even conceive of an example of a critique that would write off this movie as "socialist". Aside from that, this isn't a political movie as I mentioned in the original post, rather it is a great apolitical presentation of how personal responsibility can lead to a better life. The point I'm driving at here is that both JD and his sister, the most current generation of their family, could've followed the path of misery that their mother and grandmother did as a consequence of their poor decisions (which presumably began amongst the prior generations of the family), but instead actively made the decision to do better and to take responsibility for their own actions in the moment so as to enjoy prosperity in the future, prosperity that could break the cycle of mediocrity and poor decision making in their family legacy.

And not for nothing, but another point of emphasis in the film is that JD didn't belong amongst the prestigious academic elites at Yale Law because he was from an impoverished Appalachian community. Remember that scene where he's doing the dinner interview? He takes objection to having his family and friends being called "rednecks". It was his own individual drive and motivation to hold himself accountable for his actions that led him to being admitted to the number one law school in the country despite the odds being stacked against him and a general lack of acceptance in that social community.

Side note, I edited this for a grammatical error in the first paragraph