Review of Junebug (2005) by Miles H — 19 Feb 2008
I love a film that's slow, lingering, and forces the audience to make up their minds about it. However, there's doing and then there's self-impressed posturing, and this film falls more into the latter.
There are some good things to be found. The acting, for one, is exceptional and note perfect from all, particularly Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz (hottt!) The two of them give the most realized performances, but it helps that their characters are by far the most developed and nuanced in the script.
The others are alright, but they never quite reach that peak. There are some true and telling scenes that are nicely executed, and again, the ambiguity of it all is a nice change from most modern fare.
However, I think there may have been too much ambiguity, and I think it's only serving purpose was to help give the film this "hip, Sundance, indie smash" reputation that it's acquired.
What other reason to get Yo La Tengo to write a voiceless score that could have come from a 6th grader with a Casio? It's obvious, on an aesthetic level, that Phil Morrison is trying to channel Ozu, in his still life shots and minimalist style.
Yet Ozu knew when to tell and when to suggest, and Morrison doesn't lean toward the former enough. It's an underdeveloped and frustrating movie that shows great potential in moments, but never finds that perfect balance between emptiness and life.
This review of Junebug (2005) was written by Miles H on 19 Feb 2008.
Junebug has generally received positive reviews.
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