Junebug

(2005)

Todd Says:

1.5 STARS

Alright, I'm sure that some of you have been anxiously waiting for me to bare my teeth again, here I go.

Junebug is almost entirely disappointing. It comes off as an aloof artsy film with the sole purpose of lampooning modern southern life. I could live with that, I mean who doesn't think rednecks are funny right. Well, they miss the mark here by quite a bit. To me, the 'intellectual' city folk in this movie (i.e. the two main characters) come across as shallow, judgemental, explotative, jack-asses.

The only two characters in this film with any heart are the expecting married couple, which most of the film's scenes are designed to make fun of. By the end of the movie I was so sick of Madeline, an art dealer who comes south to gain a fruitcake of a new client and meets and stays with her husband's family, that I wanted to quit watching. Her character seemed to have zero growth what-so-ever, and in the middle of an emotional family crisis, she chooses to visit her racist, perverted, relgious fanatic folk painter, totaly ignoring her in-laws.

In my opinion the best thing about this movie was the fact that it ended after only 106 minutes. From the opening scene to the last, even though you keep hoping for better, the characters is this movie are very hard to connect with. Don't bother.

Alexis says:

1 STAR

We here at Cinemaphiles were recently discussing how we like most of the films we viewed. Is it because we often pick movies that we are looking forward to or get a lot of hype? Well, whatever the reason, our recent viewing of Junebug was a complete and utter letdown from scene one.

Maybe people who nominate the movies for Oscars just have a lot different taste than I do because I am still stunned that this movie could ever have been up for such high honors. The actors, the story, the camera work, all unconvincing and at times just belittling to real people and places. The characters are dysfunctional but so boring that I couldn't seem to care. The sexual undertones distracting and unimpressive to the story. That one star, that is for you Amy Adams and your performance. Adams is the only likable, digestible ingredient in the whole movie.

I was really looking forward to this movie. I really wanted to see it. I was let down, disappointed and confused. Maybe I just don't get it. It wasn't the nitty gritty camera work, some of that was appealing. It wasn't the southern middle class family so much. It was the weakly written art dealer, her confused and confusing recent spouse and her much sought after would-be art client. I couldn't seem to give a care for any of them.

Other than Adams performance (and her story for which I think the movie should have been more centered around) I liked the shots of Replacements, Ltd. Other than that I see no real redeeming qualities in this movie and really wouldn't recommend it to anyone at all. I wish we could have seen the Dark Knight like every one else on Friday night.