Junebug - The Atlanta Journal-Constitution movie review

'Junebug': Warm, witty and bright

By ELEANOR RINGEL GILLESPIE
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Junebug," Phil Morrison's funny and perceptive feature debut, is a culture-clash comedy of manner(s) with some serious themes as well.

Brimming with bright dialogue, complex characters and moments of sheer aching sweetness, it's Chekhov with a side of red-eye gravy.

Sony Pictures Classics

'Junebug'

B+

The verdict: Cute as a bug. Also funny, warm-hearted and smart.

Director: Phil Morrison
Starring: Amy Adams, Embeth Davidtz, Benjamin McKenzie, Alessandro Nivola, Frank Hoyt Taylor
Run time: 102 minutes
Release date: August 5, 2005
Rating: R for sexual content and language.
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Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), a Chicago art dealer, and George (Alessandro Nivola), her Southern husband, first meet at something called the Auction for Visionary Art to Re-elect Jesse Jackson — a droll little throwaway that indicates writer Angus MacLachlan knows what he's about.

A specialist in "outsider" art, Madeleine travels to North Carolina to pursue Frank Hoyt Taylor (David Wark), whose sprawling Civil War tableaux are littered with lunatic religious iconography and psychosexual images, suggesting a cross between Howard Finster and Henry Darger. "I love the dog heads and the computers," she enthuses, sizing up one painting.

As it happens, George's family lives nearby, so the trip is also a good opportunity to "Meet the Parents," so to speak. Except "Junebug" is as nuanced and heartwise as the Robert De Niro/Ben Stiller comedy was silly and witless.

Madeleine's new father-in-law, Eugene (Scott Wilson), is a typically taciturn Southern man who spends most of his time working in his basement woodshop. His most recent project is a hand-carved cradle for his new imminent grandchild.

The father-to-be, Johnny ("The O.C.'s" Ben McKenzie), has a wispy NASCAR-dad moustache and a sullen manner. The latter could be because he's spent his life playing Beau Bridges to George's more glamorous Jeff. Or maybe it's because he didn't expect to be settled down with a wife and family before he was old enough to legally drink.

Luckily, his wife, Ashley — played with movie-stealing, who-is-that perfection by the vibrant and adorable Amy Adams — has enough enthusiasm for both of them. Junebug is her nickname for their unborn child, since Johnny refuses to even discuss names. Her suggestion of Dolly — as in Dolly Madison snack cakes — barely elicits a grunt.

Ashley is one of the freshest, most engaging characters we've seen in the movies in months. Eager to love and be loved, she whips herself into a frenzied crush on her new sister-in-law, even before Madeleine arrives. "Have you met her?" she breathlessly asks one of the family. "Is she thin?"

Yes, she is. And born in Japan. And, thanks to her diplomat father, a world traveler with an English accent. In other words, the last thing her new mother-in-law, Peg (Celia Weston), wants for her eldest son. Examining Madeleine's gift at Ashley's baby shower — an obviously expensive silver baby spoon — Peg says in that flat I'm-not-being-mean-but-I-am Southern-woman way, "I don't think that can go in the dishwasher."

Yet Morrison refuses to dismiss or condescend to any of his characters. Ashley is not a fool. She's the family's heart (and the movie's as well). Peg can be flinty and judgmental, but she's also a loving, strong woman. As Eugene reassuringly says to Madeleine, "She's not like that on the inside."

Perhaps the most perplexing character is George, who goes MIA almost as soon as they arrive, leaving Madeleine to fend for herself. Yet he's also the one who's there when Ashley needs him. And in one of the film's most exquisite scenes, he breaks into a chillingly beautiful a cappella rendition of the hymn "Softly and Tenderly Jesus Is Calling" at a church supper.

Eschewing stereotypes on either side of the Mason-Dixon line, "Junebug" nonetheless combines the cliches of Southern charm and Northern smarts (it has both). The film is about a lot of things, but most of all it's about family. Maybe you can't go home again — if you're like Madeleine, you probably never really had a home in the first place. For George, the lesson is somewhat different: Maybe you can't go home again, but sometimes, you have to. And you'll be the better for it.