EIFF Review: Junebug

Posted by: Scott Hayes  •  October 5, 2005 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

Junebug was a critical favourite at the Sundance Festival this year and for good reasons. It has good actors with good performances, great directing, a fine script... also, the story involves a culture clash on two levels: between people of different regions of America and their different walks of life and between people of the same family as well, dysfunctional as it is.

In this film, much is said but even more is unspoken, and that is what makes the watching even more interesting â€" so much psychology involved and so little outlet. This silent dialogue adds a rich layer of frothy tension between many characters.

And what characters they are and marvelous characterizations. Especially the delightful Amy Adams who plays the pregnant North Carolinan Ashley, bubbly like champagne and a bit of a flibbertigibbet, a non-stop talker who forms a fast bond with Madeleine, the art dealer from Chicago. Madeleine and Ashley make for a delightful presence in this otherwise repressed and clenched fist family.

This film touches on the theme of the importance of family even if it is as fragmented and strained as this one is. I especially enjoyed one of the director's flourishes of minimalism: contrasting the conflict within the story against the stillness and peace of the settings. Beautiful.