Customer Reviews
Subtle, Bittersweet and Moving - By: David Rush, 01 Mar 2008 
Junebug is a film that takes its time. It moves slowly through its simple narrative - a young woman who is newly married meets her husband's family for the first time while trying to negotiate an art deal close their home - & builds up its characters & their thoughts & feelings effectively.
Embeth Davidtz stars as Madeleine, an art dealer who marries George, a man from North Carolina. Six months later, she is trying to negotiate a deal with an eccentric painter from her husband's home town. The pair decide to kill two birds with one stone & visit the in-laws for the first time. This proves to be a daunting experience for Madeleine as the family seem uncaring about the visit & everyone apart from her awe struck sister-in-law Ashley (Amy Adams) is uninterestedin her.
Ashley is nine months pregnant & ready to burst, although her husband Johnny does not seem to care about her or the baby. He is distracted & rude & it is soon revealed that he is still trying to pass high school - despite being married &in his early twenties - & get his diploma. Madeleine tries to help him but he soon echoes the rest of the family's feelings that she is an outsider trying to bargein to the family & flaunt her superior intellect & breeding.
The film is a wonderful snapshot of southern life & is so intimate & real that it is easy to forget that these are actors & not genuine people. The most realistic portrayal can be foundin Ashley, who is played brilliantly by Amy Adams, who has recently found fame as Gisellein Enchanted.
The film centres around her wonderful supporting performance as the pregnant Ashley, who is married to the obnoxious & resentful Johnny. She is the heart of the film, always happy & smiling despite her husband - & the rest of his prickly family's - shortcomings. She is enchanted by Madeleine from the moment of her arrival, constantly asking questions & proclaiming that the two will be best friends forever.
Adams was nominated for the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance but lost out to Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener. She is so endearing & tragic & seems to represent everything that the rest of the family would like to be: open, chatty & happy. It is a wonder that the film was not nominated for Best Original Screenplay too, as it is a skilful observation of lifein a fragile family & a true gem of a film.
So Real, So Effective....., - By: Jenny J.J.I., 04 Jul 2007 
Everyone's been invited to a weekend at a friends house or spent a couple day's outside their own "world" I would think. This movie seems to attempt to capture that strange realm when you're at the mercy of the people & lives around you. It does this primarily through the eye's of a newly married, well traveled, socially confident & successful woman traveling 1000 miles south for work & also to meet her new husbands Methodist family.
The film is sometimes quirky, sometimes stark, & very nakedin painting & seemingly portraying uneven & unfamiliar worlds. The scenes often have a very bare & vulnerable feel to them. The acting is great & the filmmaker involves the viewer intimatelyin every shot. This is a "dayin the life of" kind of film which I am usually a sucker for so I found it engaging. Each person you meet is different & interesting. You don't really know where the story is going but you don't care because each scene commands your attention. Many scenes seem explicitin their nature with the indiscriminate snippets of the characters presented to us sitting alone, having sex, going to church, or buttering toast.
One person reviewing this film said this film could be summed up best using a couple lines from it's scriptin which the new couple meet for the first timein an art gallery. female lead: "So, you like this one?"... Male: "Yeah, it makes me happy... but I'm going to buy the UFO."
Whether or not you like the film will depend on your own interpretation & the overall theme or category this film should bein is unidentifiable. The fact that a script like this can still find funding, get made & find an audience (no matter how small) is very encouraging.
Disappointed But Not Devastated.. - By: William J. Walker, 27 Apr 2007 
Every so often a film is released that slips under your radar ('how did I miss that?' you ask yourself).Slowly though, a buzz of interest develops around the film & when you finally get to see it it's like stumbling across a treasure that is all the better for being an unexpected discovery. I fully expected this film to fall into this category, I can't remember the last time I sat down to a film with such a sense of anticipation, but I'm afraid it didn't fulfil those expectations.
The problem stems,in part, from hype. Hype takes different forms; we'd all recognise the saturation media blitz that accompanies the would-be Hollywood Blockbuster these days. Then you get the more gentle form that is associated with a film like this. Of course there is the Oscar nomination for Amy Adams which raises the profile of the film, but it is the reviews & recommendations by, no doubt, well intentioned journalists that films like this depend on to get the public's attention. Comments like "film of the year" & "a rare gem" & also the inclusionin several films of the year lists. All I can say is if this is a candidate for 'film of the year' it shows how bad things are.
It isn't that it's terrible, its just that there is nothing much here to get your teeth into. It would make a good TV play/movie. There is no plot to speak of(not essential, I know), so it is entirely dependant on the characters & their interactions to spark the interest but nothing happens. There are a few hints at hidden depths & 'past events that still have repercussions to this day' but that's all they are. Ultimately you feel that these 'hidden truths' are so dull (sibling jealousy/life isn't always nice) that they aren't worth delving into anyway.
As an snapshot of middle-America it is OK (but no more than, say, Borat & certainly not as interesting as a good documentary) & it has a good sense of 'place' but that is not enough. To those who argue it is good because 'it's like real life' I say, so are countless other tales("To Kill a Mockingbird" comes to mind)that can be 'real' & provide interest throughout.
The worst momentin the film was about 10 seconds before the end when I thought 'it can't end here, can it?' & it did.
My suggestion: DO watch it, as it is well acted & filmed, but wait for a TV showing
Mixed Feelings - By: Spiralgoddess, 20 Feb 2007 It's difficult to truly describe Junebug! On the one hand, it has some interesting moments comparing very different lifestyles & not judging either one. The imagery & inherent southern culture clashesin a mostly passive aggressive way, with only the two brothers allowing any true resentment struggle to the surface. The two sides clash politely whilst having no idea what to do with each other.
On the other hand, whilst this can draw onein for a while, when the credits began to roll, I was still waiting for something to happen. Apart from a somewhat dubious (medically speaking) tragedy to highlight the differencein priorities, there was little meat on the bones here, & I was left feeling somewhat empty.
I did like it,in places, but I also felt that there were things brewing which never really came to fruition. A shame really given the promising characters who could have had a lot more to do.
Pretentious Dull Dull Dull film - By: GRS, 10 Jan 2007 
Please please don't rent this film.... we did, & now we're sorry... If you don't end up wanting to kill all of the characters (excluding the nice chatty pregnant lady) when the credits roll, then you're a strong person indeed. I'm a fan of quirky, I'll go a long wayin pursuit of quirkiness- but there has to be some point, surely, other than watching people talk to each other, aimlessly, pointlessly, irritatingly... some theme... something. You keep hoping that it's going to be 'American Beauty', but it's actually more like watching Amaerican paint dry.
