Junebug

I went to see the movie “Junebug” yesterday with my mom and my sister. To summarize the premise briefly…

It is a deceptively simple character study of a family in North Carolina whose eldest son, George, marries Madeline, a sophisticated art dealer from Chicago. They fall in love and marry quickly, so they still don't know much about each other. Madeline is trying to sign a small town artist who lives near George’s family. So they make a trip to North Carolina to woo the artist and to meet George’s family.

The film is slow, gentle, and contemplative. It kind of has the feel of a good short story. If you can only handle action packed thrillers, don’t bother seeing this movie. The movie has gotten a lot of positive critique so far. All of the actors give good performances. Even Benjamin McKenzie of “The O.C.” fame, who plays the moody younger brother Johnny. The actress who steels the show, however, is Amy Adams who plays Ashley, Johnny’s pregnant wife. Ashley is like Scarlett O’Hara with ADD, a desperately cheerful chatterbox who is earnest and childlike, but more intelligent that she first appears. It is as though she just talks and talks and talks because to be silent would be to confront her life's emptiness. To quote one the reviews I read, “Ms. Adams's incandescent Ashley floods the movie with a heartbreaking sweetness and warmth.” Adams had better be on the list for best supporting actress when the Oscar nominations come out. She has already received praise for her performance by winning a special jury prize for dramatic performance at the Sundance Film Festival

In conclusion, I’m so glad we went to see this movie. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to any of you.