MOVIE REVIEW - Junebug (2005)

A nice, quirky family drama about “the good son” coming home to rural North Carolina with his new wife (the always lovely Embeth Davidtz, who needed a better haircut here). Top-notch acting throughout. Amy Adams received an Oscar nod for the overly excited and overly talkative sister-in-law. Her charm won you over to the character, especially in her adoration of Embeth. The dad was played to heartbreaking and heartwarming effect by Scott Wilson (though some of his best scenes were in the Deleted section). Celia Weston played the typical Southern manipulative mom, but brought depth and heart to what could’ve been an overlooked role – especially her tears when her son was singing. And who is this Allesandro Nivola? That guy knows how to sing a hymn – my favorite part in the movie. And the look of shock, horror, adoration on Embeth’s face during and after the song, how touching. You can tell this is in intentionally quirky indie flick – a scene of about 2 minutes where we’re all just watching an air mattress blow up; another where neighbors look across the lawn at each other for a too-long time, then walk away – and we watch that entire long walk up the drive, including the extended shot of the bugs flying around the grass – just conspicuously emphasizing the low budget of the film – and proud of it. But that’s ok, it’s mostly worth the quirks. There are times when I was frustrated at how bad rural families communicate and deal with their problems – it doesn’t Have to be like this, you know… but I guess it so often is, and it’s nicely portrayed here.