Junebug
Film: Junebug (2005)
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Embeth Davidtz, Amy Adams
Director: Phil Morrison
Rating: R for sexual content and language
Just a quick note about Junebug, which I just rented. (and not more than a quick note because I don't think I could write extensively without giving something away, and I don't want to do that.)
I was really, REALLY impressed. Essentially, the movie focuses on the homecoming of Southern boy George and his sophisticated, international, art-dealing new wife Madeleine. Madeleine tries very hard to connect with George's South Carolina suburban family, but ultimately, the divide is too great and she and George flee back to their Chicago home.
The movie revels in its honest and stripped down portrayal of small town South. The melancholy of these people (if they are indeed melancholy) is not due to their poverty, for no one is really poor, but rather due to the recognition of their rut.
George's family - and George and Madeleine themselves - start the movie by appearing to be rather one-dimensional stereotypes of characters we've seen before. Gradually, though, layers are peeled back, insights are revealed, and nearly every character is frighteningly human by the end of the movie. Characters who appear to be the very essence of goodness are shown to have a hidden ugly side, and characters who seem to be full of anger and hate are ultimately tender and sad. The movie ends on a question mark, not choosing an easy way out or providing answers about the fate of these people.
I have found that I respond very well to and truly love movies that speak truths. Don't get me wrong, I love escapist movies as well, but I find it an uncommon film that brutally confronts the truths of human/American life. Junebug has much truth in it, and for that, I love it.
Siobhan's Approval: 4.5/5
P.S. - Amy Adams' Oscar nomination for this film is incredibly well-deserved.
Starring: Alessandro Nivola, Embeth Davidtz, Amy Adams
Director: Phil Morrison
Rating: R for sexual content and language
Just a quick note about Junebug, which I just rented. (and not more than a quick note because I don't think I could write extensively without giving something away, and I don't want to do that.)
I was really, REALLY impressed. Essentially, the movie focuses on the homecoming of Southern boy George and his sophisticated, international, art-dealing new wife Madeleine. Madeleine tries very hard to connect with George's South Carolina suburban family, but ultimately, the divide is too great and she and George flee back to their Chicago home.
The movie revels in its honest and stripped down portrayal of small town South. The melancholy of these people (if they are indeed melancholy) is not due to their poverty, for no one is really poor, but rather due to the recognition of their rut.
George's family - and George and Madeleine themselves - start the movie by appearing to be rather one-dimensional stereotypes of characters we've seen before. Gradually, though, layers are peeled back, insights are revealed, and nearly every character is frighteningly human by the end of the movie. Characters who appear to be the very essence of goodness are shown to have a hidden ugly side, and characters who seem to be full of anger and hate are ultimately tender and sad. The movie ends on a question mark, not choosing an easy way out or providing answers about the fate of these people.
I have found that I respond very well to and truly love movies that speak truths. Don't get me wrong, I love escapist movies as well, but I find it an uncommon film that brutally confronts the truths of human/American life. Junebug has much truth in it, and for that, I love it.
Siobhan's Approval: 4.5/5
P.S. - Amy Adams' Oscar nomination for this film is incredibly well-deserved.