Junebug

Junebug

source: Junebug

To say this was slow, mundane and pointless is to give too much credit to this awful movie. Some scenes were simply painful to watch due to the slow-motion effect where nothing happens for what seems like minutes. Further, there is no seeming growth of characters as they attempt to struggle with their conflicts. Most never do show any awareness of their strengths, weaknesses or opportunities for change. Nothing happens. Nothing is resolved. After watching it you feel nothing. How could so many voters like this film? The participants must have a lot of friends. Characters are stereotypes. Dialogue is slow. Directing is slow. Scenes drag on endlessly. Then just when you think something big is about to happen, another endless moment ensues when someone is on the phone for 2 minutes. As a Northerner, why Southerners need to be portrayed as idiots is beyond me. I really don't get it. The only good thing is i rented it from Netflix. If I had paid $8 I would have asked for my money back. What is the point of this movie?

A snobbish and ironic view of smalltown life as seen through the eyes of a prodigal son returning home and his new wife, an outsider-to-end-all-outsiders with a plummy Brit accent and a globetrotting upbringing as the daughter of a diplomat. I take issue with one reviewer's claim that rural and Bible Belt people "have no complexity of emotions or doubts, like city people are wont to have." Not dwelling neurotically on one's own feelings is a far cry from not having those feelings. The filmmaker sets the hometown folks up like bowling pins to be knocked down. He glosses over reasons for the layers of the family's relationships, and allows for no development of any character except, perhaps, the new wife/gallery owner. The brother is a one-note mass of inchoate rage; the expectant wife, a clueless naiad; the artist, a pile of stereotypical tics played as a joke; the mother, a domineering harpy, etc. The pre-credit clips of what appears to be a hollering contest serve no purpose that I can see, other than to further point out how quaint and exotic these North Carolina folks are. As a film, it's not much to look at - the editing, especially, is pedestrian at best, and often clumsy. The script is clichéd, and the big plot payoff is shot through with inconsistencies and carries no emotional weight. The final line of the movie, spoken by the prodigal son as he heads out of town, is foul and completely out of character. Nevertheless, I had to agree with him, at least as far as leaving the theater and this pinched little picture behind.

When Art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz, never better) travels to the South meet an Artist about his weird drawings, she decides to visit her husband's family whilst she's at it. He hasn't been in correspondence with them for over three years, and why that is is left unrevealed. She meets them – her mother in law (Celia Weston), father in law (Scott Wilson), brother in law (Benjamin Mckenzie), and his perky, pregnant wife Ashley (Amy Adams). Only Ashley extends a warm welcome, as everyone else pronounces Madeleine too clever, too pretty and too successful to be considered family. Her visit brings some home truths that the family had been putting off. Or, waiting for someone to blame on. There is something about Junebug that will surprise everyone. It's not the weird opening sequence, where some men randomly shout into space. It's not the surprise of seeing Schindler's List's Embeth Davitz finally get a film role that she deserves. No, it is that you are actually impressed by the acting from The O.C.'s Benjamin Mckenzie (shortened to "Ben" here). As Johnny, he is a definite sourpuss, rude, inattentive to his loving wife, but perhaps, as the film hints, just using his rude exterior to hide a feeling of failure inside. Ben Mackenzie makes his character surprisingly well layered, revelling in the quietly sad scenes – he tries to tape a show about meercats for his wife but can't, and ends up taking it out on her. As his very different brother, Alessandro Nivola is as good, in his unaffected, cheerfulness. Embeth Davidtz shines too, in a different role as Madeleine, a woman trying constantly to make a good impression, but always failing. Her character is given extra depth during her many scenes during Amy Adams, especially in their snug little session over her nails. But the film belongs to Amy Adams, the actress that brought the film out of obscurity with her Oscar nomination. In Ashley, we find liveliness, humour and a soul not to be put out easily. Her love for her under-achieving husband is touching and each time he knocks her back, she fights back playfully, covering up her own insecurities, which are all revealed in her tragic hospital scene. It was a performance that could have easily been annoying or repetitive, but Ashley's spirit is so free, Adams' performance perfectly heartfelt. Not much happens plot-wise, but Junebug is one of those films that are all the better for it. Director Phil Morrison has expertly created a story, with real characters, out of the petty everyday things. Although scenes with the Artist feel a little underdone, though they also play a part in showing the importance of family. Madeleine's visit proves to be unsuccessful not only because she is disliked by her husband's family, but because her actions clumsily reveal things about them, things that they'd rather not admit to. That Junebug never properly reaches a conclusion merely adds to the film's sophistication, but on my part, I probably would have liked to see what happens if Madeline and George went back a year later. Because though Ashley had big dreams, the sad fact is that they probably all would have gone unfulfilled. Everyone has aspirations, and some people can stand in the way of others. B+

SPOILERS GALORE HERE, AND WE DON'T GIVE A HOOT HOW YOU DID IT UP NORTH. This self-centered exercise in urban high-hattery is an insult to Southerners in general and North Carolina in particular. There are many of us fortunate enough to have fled our Jersey roots and found a home in the South during the past 30 years. But learning the important lessons takes many, many episodes of being smart enough to shut up and listen. Or as a local bank CEO mentioned recently, he was raised with sayings such as "I'll care about how much you know when I know how much you care." Thomas Wolfe clichés notwithstanding, whoever is responsible for this overrated piece of garbage should be ashamed of themselves. Which, of course, they would never, ever be.

I am a Northerner and a solid city dweller. I have always suspected that when movies especially try to make their simple countrified characters seem morally superior by making them monosyllabic and lacking in anything resembling complex thought, that it was just a sad attempt by inept writers. Junebug does nothing to change that. In this Southern family, Dad just putters around in the basement workshop making wooden birds, Mom is a grump, Younger Brother is an idiot and a hothead and his ditsy, pregnant wife is an annoying motormouth. A little serious dysfunction would at least make this family interesting. Why is the returning son so upset at his British wife for not going to the hospital when numb-skull sister in law goes into labor? He apparently ran away from this small town family to the big city as soon as he could. Also, they are meeting her for the first time, meaning he didn't even invite his family to his wedding! How close are they supposed to be? There is nothing charming about monotonous morons. There is nothing inherently superior about country life as opposed to city life. They both have good and bad points. I know too, too many charming, vocal, intelligent, interesting and vibrant Southerners to believe this doltish family is something to admire. I bet they voted for "Dubya" Bush.

I really did not like this film. I usually like quirky independent films, but this was more like watching the cartoon "King of the Hill," than "The Station Agent," Me and You and Everyone We Know," or "Pieces of April." The problem with "Junebug" is that there are no likable characters. I just saw a bunch of stereotyped dumb Southerners that really had no good qualities. I guess that was supposed to be funny, but I wasn't laughing. Madeleine, the Northener, was real nice and understanding, but there was not much depth to her character. Her Southern husband was hardly in the film and we are not given any reason why they got married other than physical attraction. Sitting through this film for an hour and 40 minutes was an unpleasant experience. The photography was rather plain, the dialog was forgettable, and the ending did not resolve anything. The acting was good, but not good enough to save the film. Apparently lots of people like this film because it has gotten pretty good reviews. Maybe those are the people who have kept "King of the Hill" on the air for so long.

When I think of excruciating physical pain, few things come to mind, getting a 3rd degree burn, exposed bone fractures, root canal performed without anesthesia. Now I can add watching "Junebug" to this list. I was very eager to see this movie, having listened to my lovely wife raving and ranting about it, so last night we sat down decided to watch it. It was painful for me. Truly. Maybe my "chi" was off or the planets weren't aligned properly, I don't know the reasons but I "didn't get" this movie. As far as I am concerned the making of this movie was a complete waste of time, money and effort. I wanted to spank Ashley- with a 2x4- for being such a victim of an immature husbands, wanted to look George forehead for any signs of scars indicating a recent lobotomy. I believe the script had great potential for real family drama, but every opportunity to bring this story to next level was missed.

There was just too little story to go on in this film... I'm all for films that don't telegraph every detail and let the audience think things through for itself, but the paucity of storyline and the rather pretentiously "indie" film-making style made this an unpleasant experience. I just didn't know what the film was trying to tell us. If it was simply juxtaposing the urban and rural characters, it didn't do so in a very interesting way. If it was trying to be satirical or ironic, the satire or irony was lost on me. If it was trying to be a slice-of-life picture, then the either the life or the slice it was showing wasn't one that I really cared about when I left. The acting was good, but that's just not enough to recommend this film. Incomprehensibility should not be mistaken for depth.