Junebug (Review)
Wednesday, 27th April 2011, 10:01

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It says something about the state of the movie industry that a well received film with Oscar nominations didn’t even make it to my local multiplex and was so far under the radar that the first I heard of it was when it was being offered for review a year ago on Blu-ray. About 14 months on and Junebug is now being released on DVD so those that missed out because they have yet to make the jump to a high definition home cinema setup can see the film.

Set in North Carolina where Madeline and her husband George travel from Chicago to his hometown as she is desperate to capture the signature of an ‘outsider’ artist whose work she wants to display in her gallery in Chicago. Since he left home, George has expressed no desire to return and only calls in on his family because of Madeline’s business interests in the area and it would be extremely rude not to see them.

George’s father Eugene Johnsten, an extremely reserved individual, just stands and watches the blow up mattress manually inflate in the nursery for his son and daughter-in-law, with the room, which contains a cot, prepared for a baby as George’s sister Ashley is over eight months pregnant and ready to drop. An extremely upbeat, naïve and childlike woman, Ashley is excited even before the visitors from Illinois arrive, speculating on just how pretty, thin and successful Madeline may be and, when they do arrive, she almost adopts her sister-in-law as the big sister she never had. George’s brother, Johnny, hates him for his good looks, success and ability to escape from the south – Johnny lives with his parents and is studying for his GED as he never graduated from High School.

The arrival of Madeline and George sees the difficult and fragile dynamics amongst the members of the Johnsten household strained almost to breaking point as hidden resentments and tensions come to the surface. Johnny doesn't particularly like his brother's conversion from a 'normal' member of the local society to a cultured Northerner and even resents Madeleine's tuition as she tries to explain the homosexual subtext in Huckleberry Finn to help him pass his GED.

Written by Angus MacLachlan and directed by Phil Morrison, both North Carolina natives, this is a strong and acutely observed family drama with startling performances from the stellar cast. With Embeth Davidtz as Madeline, perhaps best known for playing Helen Hirsch in Schindler’s List, and Amy Adams (whose performance was Oscar nominated) as Ashley, the young female actors are extremely strong and with the reassuring presence of Scott Wilson (who played Dick Hickcock in 1967’s In Cold Blood) and Celia Weston, another vastly experienced screen actor, there is quality throughout the cast.

MacLachland and Morrison set this in their home town and are extremely careful with the depiction of the God-fearing southern folk – in other hands it may seem patronising and clichéd but there is something charming and endearing about the Johnstens with Ashley almost like a young child whose wide-eyed innocence is yet to be tainted by the cynicism that comes with growing up and experiencing the world for what it is. Additionally, this religious subplot creates even more tensions as Madeleine isn't at all religious so is surprised when she and George are invited to the local church and he is invited to sing a hymn in front of the whole congregation – something he does fairly enthusiastically and very well.

Junebug takes you through the full range of emotions and, when you get to the end, you want to watch it again. It’s deliberately paced, beautifully observed and I loved it.

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