Review of Junebug (2005) by Satchel J — 20 Mar 2008

[font=Arial]It's interesting how so many Hollywood films treat families like sitcoms or the plague. Even in many independent films, they either play down what families are or they blow the eccentricties out of proportion. In this sense, Junebug is a breath of fresh air.

Junebug centers around Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) and George (Alessandro Nivola), Chicago newlyweds who return to his family home in North Carolina when a business trip brings them into the vicinity. We meet George's parents (Ceilia Weston and Scott Wilson), his brother Johnny (Ben Mackenzie) and his pregnant wife Ashley (Amy Adams). They all live in one house with incredibly thin walls (as we are shown in one splendid scene by an overexcited Ashley). But as I mentioned earlier, this isn't sitcom, so while there are set pieces, there isn't any plot. This isn't a story, but a visit (and from the look of it, it won't be the last either). We are watching these characters relate to each other as both strangers and familiars and sometimes an interesting cross-breed of the both.

Family dynamics are always different with most families, but they have a few similarities. There's always an alpha. In this case, it's mom. Her comments and criticisms are very polite, but dig incredibly deep. All we have to do is look at her husband to see just how deep it can get. He barely talks and doesn't argue, just tries to find ways to get some distance from her. There are secrets that are like those walls in the house, incredibly thin and trivial at best (one involving smoking habits). There's tension between the two brothers that is never explained. And then there's Ashley, the heart and soul of this family. She isn't incredibly bright, but they would be worse off without her spunk and zeal.

I have to give my atmost respect for Amy Adams for this film. The role is juicy from the beginning, but Adams takes this part and runs with it. She gives Ashley a sense of hope and peace, but also a sense of loneliness since she questions her husband's love for her. Davidtz also defies stereotype with her performance of a big-city intellectual, which is usually seen as stuck-up and neurotic. In this film her character is an open receptical to everyone she meets. When she and Ashley first meet and begin to talk (mostly it's Ashley whose talking), her mouth is agape with astonishment (as is ours), but she listens. She doesn't judge even when her husband's religious upbringing comes out of nowhere.

Phil Morrison's direction is natural and precise, but not flashy. He gets intimate with his characters and allows them to bring out their emotions not in large monologues but in small guestures and expressions. The screenplay by Angus MacLachlan stays away from stereotypes and theatrics, letting characters play their scenes instead of the other way around. And when the film finally ends, we are not seeing the end of a situation but a continuation of lives that we are leaving behind.

All in all, this is an incredible film about family that is more true than any other film I have seen. It understands heartache, but also hope. And that roots are important to show where you've come from, but not where you are going. Please see this movie. Shoo!![/font].