Themes: Culture Clash, Eccentric Families, Class Differences
Main Cast: Amy Adams, Embeth Davidtz, Benjamin McKenzie, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Celia Weston, Scott Wilson
Release Year: 2005
Country: US
Run Time: 106 minutes
Plot
Phil Morrison, who collaborated with screenwriter Angus MacLachlan for his acclaimed 1990 short, Tater Tomater, joins forces with MacLachlan again for his feature-film debut, Junebug. Junebug takes place in rural North Carolina. Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a sophisticated Chicagoan who owns a gallery devoted to "outsider art," goes south in an effort to woo an eccentric painter (Frank Hoyt Taylor) to her gallery. She brings along her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola), a native of the area, and the couple stays with his family. Peg (Celia Weston), George's mother, gives Madeleine a rather chilly greeting, and seems to think she's a poor match for her eldest son, while his father, Eugene (Scott Wilson), is a bit more welcoming, in his quiet way. George's younger brother, Johnny (Ben McKenzie), is still living at home with his very pregnant wife, Ashley (Amy Adams), and seems to feel nothing but resentment for George. For her part, Ashley is a gregarious young woman, and she's immediately smitten with her "new sister." Junebug was selected by the Museum of Modern Art and the Film Society of Lincoln Center for inclusion in the 2005 edition of New Directors/New Films. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Review
Phil Morrison's Junebug has many of the elements expected from American independent films. It is character driven, offers a geographically specific location that is rarely seen in American films, and features lead characters who change in small and possibly, depending on one's appreciation of the film, profound ways. The strengths of the film are in the women. Embeth Davidtz plays Madeline, the sophisticated art dealer visiting the rural backwater that is home to her husband's family. She manages to make a character that should be unsympathetic very empathetic mostly because she does nothing consciously to offend her hosts' sensibilities. Hers is a finely modulated performance. Amy Adams, as the talkative sister-in-law who desires to gain some of Madeline's worldliness, serves up a great performance. The character lacks the prejudice seen in the other characters. Her performance is as open as her character, full of wide-eyed wonder and -- when the time comes -- deeply felt sadness. She portrays all of these emotions without ever sounding a false or actorly note. Where Morrison's film fails is in not clearly defining the role of Madeline's husband, George. He seems disinterested and disassociated from everyone and everything except for the few moments when he is deeply engaged in a particular activity or person. Those changes in attitude seem so arbitrary that one is left with the suspicion that the character's ambivalence stems more from the filmmaker's inability to figure him out than from the character himself. While this problem disrupts the overall effect of the film, Adams and Davidtz make Junebug a worthy experience for anyone who appreciates fine acting. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide
Mark Bennett - Casting, Danielle Kays - Costume Designer, Phil Morrison - Director, Joe Klotz - Editor, Daniel Rappaport - Executive Producer, Dany Wolf - Executive Producer, Mark P. Clein - Executive Producer, Ethan D. Leder - Executive Producer, Payton Dunham - Location Manager, Yo La Tengo - Composer (Music Score), David Doernberg - Production Designer, Peter Donahue - Cinematographer, Mike S. Ryan - Producer, Mindy Goldberg - Producer, Jeffree Bloomer - Sound/Sound Designer, Angus MacLachlan - Screenwriter
When newlywed Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a British art dealer, travels from Chicago to North Carolina to pursue a local, self-taught painter (Frank Hoyt Taylor) for her outsider art gallery she takes the opportunity to meet her husband George's (Alessandro Nivola) family, who live close by.
There's his flinty, judgmental mother Peg (Celia Weston); his reserved, contemplative father Eugene (Scott Wilson); and his sullen, resentful, twenty-ish brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie) who, although married, still lives at home, studying for his high school equivalence certificate while working at Replacements, Ltd. as an order processor. Johnny married Ashley before either of them finished high school. Relations between Johnny and Ashley are strained, with Ashley believing that a baby will solve their marital problems.
Madeline and George stay in the baby's nursery and she becomes friends with Johnny's pregnant young wife Ashley (Amy Adams), a very sweet and friendly, if somewhat naive and talkative girl. The family take Madeline to a church service and she attends Ashley's baby shower. Madeline discovers that she does not know much about George, as they have been married only six months, and knew each other only a week before they got married. George's strong Southern family values come through.
The artist Madeline is trying to sign wavers over signing with her gallery. Ashley goes in to labor, and the family goes to the hospital with her, but Madeline chooses to go and convince the artist to sign with her gallery. George is angry. Ashley's baby boy is stillborn. She tells George she was going to name it "Junebug". George and Madeline leave to go back to Chicago.
Though much of the movie is free of background music, its score is made up of original music by Yo La Tengo, as well as eighteenth century classical music. Also, the film begins and ends with the 1977 song "Harmour Love" performed by Syreeta Wright and written by Stevie Wonder. During a scene where most of the characters are at a church social, George and two young men are featured singing the hymn “Softly and Tenderly, Jesus Is Calling” by Will Thompson.
No official soundtrack has been released of the film. As a result, Syreeta's album One to One (which contains the song "Harmour Love") has since experienced a resurgence of sales. Yo La Tengo have released some of the original music in a compilation of their work on soundtracks They Shoot, We Score. [[1]]
