After spending many years living in Chicago, George (Alessandro Nivola) has return home to North Carolina, giving him a chance to introduce his British art dealer wife Madeleine (Embeth Davitz) to his family. Although they all seem nice at first, especially his enthusiastic and quite pregnant sister-in-law Ashley (Amy Adams), the family is suspicious of trusting an outsider with their secrets, which all start to come out the longer they stay there.
I wanted to love Junebug and wound up just barely liking it. Besides for a couple performances, the film just left me cold. First, a few of the characters were not developed very well. It was hard for me to become emotionally engaged with these people because most of them were either two faced or bland. For example, George was portrayed as this nice guy that everyone loved but I found him to be kind of dull. He hardly ever spoke and I just couldn't understand his appeal to other people. I understood why his family liked him but why did the rest of the community like him? It didn't make a whole lot of sense. He also seemed to be a little two faced. For the majority of the film, it didn't seem like he was bothered by his family despite the usual negative stereotypes that accompany that location. However after his departure, he was glad to finally leave. The character seemed to go in a bunch of different directions without much thought.
George's father Eugene was even more quiet. I think he was supposed to be one of those "strong and silent" types but he came off looking kind of weak. He didn't really do anything in the film and he was kind of bland. George's brother Johnny was a bit more obvious. He was a bitter man despite the fact (or maybe because) his wife was going to give birth. He was stuck in a dead end job and he had to retake high school classes. He was also jealous of his brother since they were total opposites. However, I didn't understand why he threw a wrench at his brother. It seemed a little random but maybe he really didn't like him or maybe he was upset about the baby. I don't think the director handled that scene and character very well. Peg (the mom) was just a mean woman. She didn't want a "stranger" coming in and messing things up. She started to open up near the end but her conversations with Madeleine always felt cold and distant.
The only two characters I liked were Madeline and Ashley. You will either love Ashley or hate her. I found her enthusiastic personality to be contagious and she was very likable. It was very hard to watch when she was at the hospital and asking God out loud why he would let this terrible thing happen. That was probably the film's strongest and most memorable scene. I think the director was trying to make Madeleine look like the bad guy. For the first half of the film, she tried to get along with the family. She became friends with Ashley but Peg and Johnny were mean around her. Johnny just looked uncomfortable around her since they came from different backgrounds and Peg didn't want a stranger in the house. Before she left, Madeleine kind of made up with Peg but her relationship with Johnny was still weak. For the second half of the film, she cared more about work than family. She didn't want to go to the hospital with George because she had to sign a deal with this racist painter. I thought they were going to break up since they both wanted to go to different places but they didn't. They also never mentioned this again so George may not have been too bothered by this. Also, painter was really annoying and his work wasn't all that great. I guess Madeleine saw something different though.
The acting was decent with Amy Adams giving the best performance. She was terrific as Ashley and she deserved her Oscar nomination. Embeth Davitz was also pretty good as Madeleine though not Oscar worthy. Celia Weston was okay, nothing special. Benjamin McKenzie surprised me the most and he gave a good performance. Alessandro Nivola was average and Scott Wilson was just okay. Overall, I thought the screenplay was mediocre. They were a few good scenes but also a lot of poorly handled ones. The director and writer seemed to focus on just Ashley and Madeleine and some of the dramatic scenes weren't as good as they could have been. However, I have to give credit to Peter Donahue. The cinematography was excellent and the entire film was beautiful. In the end, Junebug is a decent film that should make for a good rental. Rating 6/10
I wanted to love Junebug and wound up just barely liking it. Besides for a couple performances, the film just left me cold. First, a few of the characters were not developed very well. It was hard for me to become emotionally engaged with these people because most of them were either two faced or bland. For example, George was portrayed as this nice guy that everyone loved but I found him to be kind of dull. He hardly ever spoke and I just couldn't understand his appeal to other people. I understood why his family liked him but why did the rest of the community like him? It didn't make a whole lot of sense. He also seemed to be a little two faced. For the majority of the film, it didn't seem like he was bothered by his family despite the usual negative stereotypes that accompany that location. However after his departure, he was glad to finally leave. The character seemed to go in a bunch of different directions without much thought.
George's father Eugene was even more quiet. I think he was supposed to be one of those "strong and silent" types but he came off looking kind of weak. He didn't really do anything in the film and he was kind of bland. George's brother Johnny was a bit more obvious. He was a bitter man despite the fact (or maybe because) his wife was going to give birth. He was stuck in a dead end job and he had to retake high school classes. He was also jealous of his brother since they were total opposites. However, I didn't understand why he threw a wrench at his brother. It seemed a little random but maybe he really didn't like him or maybe he was upset about the baby. I don't think the director handled that scene and character very well. Peg (the mom) was just a mean woman. She didn't want a "stranger" coming in and messing things up. She started to open up near the end but her conversations with Madeleine always felt cold and distant.
The only two characters I liked were Madeline and Ashley. You will either love Ashley or hate her. I found her enthusiastic personality to be contagious and she was very likable. It was very hard to watch when she was at the hospital and asking God out loud why he would let this terrible thing happen. That was probably the film's strongest and most memorable scene. I think the director was trying to make Madeleine look like the bad guy. For the first half of the film, she tried to get along with the family. She became friends with Ashley but Peg and Johnny were mean around her. Johnny just looked uncomfortable around her since they came from different backgrounds and Peg didn't want a stranger in the house. Before she left, Madeleine kind of made up with Peg but her relationship with Johnny was still weak. For the second half of the film, she cared more about work than family. She didn't want to go to the hospital with George because she had to sign a deal with this racist painter. I thought they were going to break up since they both wanted to go to different places but they didn't. They also never mentioned this again so George may not have been too bothered by this. Also, painter was really annoying and his work wasn't all that great. I guess Madeleine saw something different though.
The acting was decent with Amy Adams giving the best performance. She was terrific as Ashley and she deserved her Oscar nomination. Embeth Davitz was also pretty good as Madeleine though not Oscar worthy. Celia Weston was okay, nothing special. Benjamin McKenzie surprised me the most and he gave a good performance. Alessandro Nivola was average and Scott Wilson was just okay. Overall, I thought the screenplay was mediocre. They were a few good scenes but also a lot of poorly handled ones. The director and writer seemed to focus on just Ashley and Madeleine and some of the dramatic scenes weren't as good as they could have been. However, I have to give credit to Peter Donahue. The cinematography was excellent and the entire film was beautiful. In the end, Junebug is a decent film that should make for a good rental. Rating 6/10