Junebug
Junebug is a beautifully tender and delicate piece of filmmaking that captures the family unit as succinctly as almost any other film I’ve seen in recent memory. Much of Junebug is reminiscent of an Alexander Payne film, with delicate lines and ordinary-looking people populating the screen throughout the duration of the film. Junebug presents a slice of life that is so genuine, real, and flowing with natural energy that it becomes almost impossible to find the characters in the film tenderly relatable. They are exquisitely drawn from the well of real human experience and nothing in the film is forced or overly strong. It is, instead, a gently moving film that pushes all of the right buttons and leaves the characters before it overstays its welcome.
Junebug, from 2005, was directed by Phil Morrison. Morrison, surprisingly, is likely best known for his directing of the “Get a Mac” campaign for Apple Computer that took place in 2006. The simplicity of these commercials, which are among the few commercials I actually find myself enjoying, belies the simplicity of his feature film work in Junebug. Morrison has tenderness and realness to his directorial talents, making him a surefire director to watch. He has directed a few shorts that may well be worth looking into, but there appears to be nothing else on the feature film schedule for this talented American director.
Junebug gets it right because it understands the world of small towns and small communities. For anybody that has ever been to a church luncheon or stood on their lawn waving at the neighbours, Junebug will most certainly ring true with the look of the people in it and the sights and sounds containing this universe. It captures “slice of life” better than any film forced to do so, gently perceiving its people with a quiet grace and dignity that never makes comic characterizations out of the natural eccentricities that fill our own lives. Its dignity towards its characters is what sets it apart from the humdrum and often classless characterizations of “normal people” in most Hollywood films.
The film follows several rich characters through moments of their lives. When newlywed Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) travels from Chicago to the rural area of North Carolina in pursuit of a local painter (Frank Hoyt Taylor), she takes the opportunity to visit her husband’s family. Her husband, George (Alessandro Nivola) tags along, of course, and before long the newlywed couple finds themselves in the middle of business as usual at George’s childhood home. George’s mother, Peg (Celia Weston) is judgmental and flinty. His father, Eugene (Scott Wilson), is reserved and quiet. His brother, Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie), is in his twenties and lives at home with his pregnant wife Ashley (Amy Adams).
The characters swirl around each other through seemingly normal events in this “coming home” story that resonates deeply with Madeleine as she gets a vision of where her new husband comes from for the first time. Ashley instantly takes to Madeleine in her desperation for human contact, as her pregnancy has had her sequestered and her relationship with Johnny has been faltering for years under the passive-aggressive nature of her once passionate love. Peg and Eugene have, like many older couples, settled into routines of silence and normative activity, which are only spiked by the return of their favourite son, George. George spends time quietly with his father, but mostly avoids his mother.
Junebug pushes these people into an emotional situation towards the end of the film that exposes the breaking points for all of the characters. The situation, I won’t spoil it for once because I want everyone to see this film, is heartbreaking in every way and the performances involved in its exposure are simply stunning. As each family member comes to terms with what has happened and lashes out or internalizes in his or her own way, we realize that we are watching a fabulous screenplay and film at work and, better than that, we are watching something that so deeply resonates within. Junebug is filled with moments of recognition, tenderness, and emotion.
Morrison’s film not only avoids the modern temptation to portray these small town folks as backwoods hicks without a clue or a thought in their heads, as is so often the public popular opinion in these days of partisan politics and religious issues, but it avoids the temptation of giving the “city slickers” a hyperbole of their own. Instead, Junebug simply focuses on people. They are religious, as they go to church and church socials regularly and even sing hymns, and they smoke and cuss with the best of them. They are also interested in art and sex, making them rich in the fabric of the human experience. Morrison’s people are engaging and challenging, as they are mirror images of many of us who are forgotten in the glitz and glamour of Hollywood filmmaking.
Junebug is a flawless film that pushed me over the edge into emotional despair with its closing sequences and its sensitively gripping cast of characters. With Amy Adams performing with such wondrous joy, exuberance, and energy, this film is captivating from start to finish. It doesn’t help that each other performance in the film is spot-on and swelling with natural energy. Nobody in this film appears to be “acting,” but rather they appear to be living out experiences or shadows of their own experiences. Junebug is a fantastic film and I highly recommend it to anyone and everyone.
Trailer:
