Sometimes a good movie is made great by the performance of one actor. "Junebug," showing exclusively at the Oriental Theatre, 2230 N. Farwell Ave., is one of those movies.
"Junebug" is dominated by the performance of Amy Adams, whose most memorable role was as nurse Brenda Strong opposite Leonardo DiCaprio in "Catch Me If You Can." While that movie didn't make her a bigger star, "Junebug" should. Her performance is pure comedic perfection. Whenever she's on screen, it's almost impossible not to be smiling.
The story centers around Madeline (played by Embeth Davidtz), a British art gallery owner in Chicago. In a week, she meets and marries a man named George (Alessandro Nivola). Madeline's gallery begins to court an eclectic new artist who lives in North Carolina and it turns out George's parents live nearby, so the couple decide to visit.
Basically, "Junebug" is a "Meet the Parents" type story, except without house fires, spray-painted cats and god-awful sequels.
George's mother (Celia Weston) is light on words and heavy on judgments while his father (Scott Wilson) is soft-spoken and simple. He spends most of the movie looking for his lost screwdriver. Even more soft-spoken is George's brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie, of "The O.C.") who's either depressed about how his life has turned out, angry at the world or jealous of his brother's good fortune. Most of the time the answer is all of the above. If the movie focused just on these three people, it could've easily been a silent movie straight from 1920.
But then there's Ashley, Adams' character, who's loud, bubbly, enthusiastic, sweet, sincere, naïve and pregnant, which makes for an interesting combination. She provides most of the films' laughs, from her bizarre infatuation with meerkats, to her ideas for baby names (like Junebug, the title of the movie). She would fit the ditzy cheerleader stereotype perfectly, if it weren't for the fact she tried out for the squad and didn't make it (she tells Madeline this two minutes after meeting her.) She is also married to Johnny, her complete opposite personality-wise. Ashley isn't just another clichéd movie character, however. The film's most touching moment is her speech toward the end of the movie where she shows her raw emotions and hidden depths.
Besides Adams' sublime acting, the rest of the cast creates diverse characters. Davidtz portrays her scholarly sophistication so easily, but not to the point where she is condescending to the other characters. Most surprising of all is the fact that McKenzie can actually act, instead of his usual pouting, looking tough and lusting after Marissa. However, Nivola's character (George) is underwritten. We never really get a sense of what he's like.
For a movie with limited dialogue, "Junebug" communicates a number of themes quite well. One is the sort of claustrophobic feeling people get when they return to their small-town roots. Life in the small-town South would seem completely boring to most suburbanites, but the film communicates that no matter where you are, family is still most important.
"Junebug" also captures the uncertainty and excitement at the beginning of marriage. There's a scene where George leads the singing of a church song at a town picnic. The look on Madeline's face is a mixture of surprise and awe, as if she had no idea her husband could sing. No matter how well you know someone, they can always surprise you.
And no matter how many times you've seen the South portrayed in movies, it's pretty much guaranteed the odd sincerity of the family in "Junebug" will surprise you too.
Grade: AB
Junebug (R, 107 min.)
4:45pm 7:25pm 9:45pm
This article was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 29, 2005.