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Junebug
Sony Pictures Classics


7.7

based on 34 reviews
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How did we calculate this?

based on 55 votes
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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

Starring Embeth Davidtz, Frank Hoyt Taylor, Alessandro Nivola, Amy Adams, Benjamin McKenzie, Celia Weston, and Scott Wilson

When Madeleine (Davidtz), a British-born dealer in regional, "outsider" art, travels from Chicago to North Carolina to pursue a local painter for her gallery, she and her brand-new, younger husband George (Nivola) extend the trip to include an introduction to his family. Madeleine confronts the difficulty of two cultures colliding, and discovers the tumultuous outcome as these separate ways of life must coexist. (Sony Pictures Classics)

GENRE(S):	Drama
WRITTEN BY:	Angus MacLachlan
DIRECTED BY:	Phil Morrison
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: January 17, 2006 Theatrical: August 3, 2005
RUNNING TIME:	107 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	USA

Special Jury Prize, Dramatic (Amy Adams), 2005 Sundance Film Festival

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman

Amy Adams in a performance as deep as it is delightful, is the film's heart and also its flaky, wonderstruck soul.

100

LA Weekly Scott Foundas

Ensemble casts like this are not easy to come by. Adams is something more than that -- a brilliant young comedian bursting into bloom.

100

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

This low-key drama is a miracle of mood, atmosphere, and sensitivity.

100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

Junebug is a great film because it is a true film. It humbles other films that claim to be about family secrets and eccentricities. It understands that families are complicated and their problems are not solved during a short visit, just in time for the film to end. Families and their problems go on and on, and they aren't solved, they're dealt with.

100

The New Republic Stanley Kauffmann

The screenwriter Angus MacLachlan and the director Phil Morrison and an astonishingly perfect cast have quietly made a daring picture.

100

Baltimore Sun Michael Sragow

One happy surprise after another, even when the content is bittersweet or sad.

Washington Post Ann Hornaday

Manages to be one of the genuinely fresh discoveries of the summer, a little gem that deserves to become a big sleeper hit.

Slate David Edelstein

It's hugely entertaining, it's spectacularly acted, and it pricks you in all kinds of places. Maybe the best thing is to see it and let it bug you, too.

Los Angeles Times Carina Chocano

A deceptively simple, deeply resonant story about the inherent loneliness of family, the odds against assimilation and the enormous distances that can divide two people.

Austin Chronicle Kimberley Jones

The sum is something deeply profound: about awkwardness, culture clash, failed connections, and – ultimately – the strength that comes from surviving a trial by fire.

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Liam Lacey

A movie that gets wonderfully under your skin.

USA Today Claudia Puig

Junebug has the feel of a good short story or novella.

Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey

Brilliantly detailed, richly painted portrait.

New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman

Happily, Morrison's actors grasp his intentions perfectly, shading their roles so well that we never quite get a handle on anyone. Each player is outstanding, but the highest praise must go to Weston.

Premiere Peter Debruge

That rare kind of movie that contrasts "cultured" big-city characters with devout, "simple" folk without being condescending or judgmental of either camp.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Paula Nechak

The performances by Davidtz, Weston, Wilson and especially Adams stand out as Morrison paints his character study with raw, true bits continually tested by the absurdities of pain life dishes up.

Portland Oregonian Shawn Levy

Wonderful performances and the director's continual inventiveness make Junebug a particularly promising first feature.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

With its wise understanding of the magnetic pull (and invisible polarities) of family, Junebug is an auspicious debut for Morrison.

Empire David Parkinson

The scenario may be overly familiar, but the low-key approach and engaging performances make this an unexpected delight.

The Hollywood Reporter Duane Byrge

Not merely a sitcom of cultural clash. Screenwriter Angus Maclachlan has delicately etched a compelling portrait of a way of life whose decencies and simplicities are often dismissed as being "unsophisticated."

Chicago Reader J.R. Jones

Written by Angus MacLachlan, this indie drama explores the lingering tension between north and south with vinegar and precision.

Village Voice Laura Sinagra

It's an exhilaratingly decentered tale, with the perspective shifting around so there's no character with whom we totally identify throughout.

The New York Times Stephen Holden

Junebug envelops us in texture of a world the movies rarely visit.

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

If there's any justice at all at next year's Academy Awards, we have our first can't-miss nominee for best supporting actress: Amy Adams.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

There is sadness and humor here, but all understated.

Dallas Observer Bill Gallo

Combining the tragic and the comic, this drama is amateurish in places, but it's a triumph of atmosphere (the makers are both North Carolinians) and the acting is first-rate.

Miami Herald Connie Ogle

Too slight to bear up under the weight of the final melodrama, and the film ends too abruptly, as if MacLachlan just ran out of things to write. Still, this visit to the old homestead is worthwhile, if only to meet its unflappable, charismatic women.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

Sensitive and sincere and has a talented ensemble cast.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Sometimes one performance makes a film worthwhile, and Junebug has one: an astonishing, moving portrayal of down-home innocence and optimism by Amy Adams.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

Morrison brings an amazingly sure hand to MacLachlan's prickly screenplay.

The Onion (A.V. Club) Keith Phipps

The drama loses shape before it really develops, but the sense of place--all wood paneling and animal knick-knacks--and the memorable performances keep it worth watching.

Variety Joe Leydon

Has a washed-out look that may be off-putting to auds who might otherwise enjoy the pic's uncondescending view of Southern characters and customs.

Film Threat Bob Westal

An admirable film, but its charms will be visible only to the most patient filmgoers.

Boston Globe Ty Burr

A textbook case of filmmakers who can't make up their minds about their characters; it's a failure of nerve disguised as dramatic ambiguity.

The average user rating for this movie is 7.7 (out of 10) based on 55 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

P Ray gave it a3:
So till, that it almost stops on several occassions. No dialogue when you want there to be, I just didnt know what the hell I was watching it for, and didnt feel like it affected me, or had anything to say, wasted my time! Well acted though by all, and well, that it.

Zach P. gave it a7:
Yes, its not the best film in history. But no, its not the worst. The performance by Amy Adams is perfect,and there has never been an actress like her. Other than that, its still a great film about family, and features great performances.

Nathan T. gave it a6:
And the award for most inexplicably praised film of 2005 goes to "Junebug." The pacing is deliberate pace (translate "suck your eyeballs out of your face slow") and the cinematography has that strained look that capture small town America nicely. The problem with "Junebug" is that after close to two hours have passed, I'm not sure exactly what I am supposed to take from it. Films that move this sluggishly are often overpraised for the beauty and depth, but if you really pay attention this is a stew of moments that confuse silence for depth and characters that are hardly fleshed out. Well, some of them. The women in the film are nicely fleshed out, we as viewers get some sense of what's ticking in their heads. But the men, especially George, the son of the family that he and new wife Embeth Davidtz visit, is a skeleton of a character. Who is he? The most he get's asked in the entire film is in the opening sequence when Madeline (Davidtz) inquires before love making, "Where did you come from?" Beyond that, he enters the scene when he is scheduled, leaves the scene when he is supposed to, smiles a lot and gives us very little insight as to why relations are so strained with his brother. That brother would be none other than Ben McKenzie of 'The OC' fame who plays Johnny. We are only provided glimpses into his life and his own dissatisfaction. One scene reveals that despite all his glowering, he does really like his job. But beyond that he is the film's most contrived character. He broods around for the most of the film. The women have depth. Amy Adams plays Johnny's vivacious pregnant wife Ashley. Although she received the Oscar nod, Embeth Davidtz hits all the right notes. She plays the most complete character and she in turn gives the most complete performance. Ultimately "Junebug" is watchable despite all its absurd attempts at indie artiness. Amy Adams and Embeth Davidtz are worth a viewing, but at the end of the day, "Junebug" is little more than that: a glimpse. It never becomes a complete experience.

Stephen S. gave it an8:
Phil Morrison announces himself as a name to watch with this one. This is no Sweet Home Alabama romp set in a cardboard South, everybody is suffering seriously from the human condition. Nobody gets the upper hand, neither the posh English art dealer nor the North Carolina homebodies she visits with her new husband. The husband’s parents, whom we might tend to dismiss initially as cliches, are gradually revealed as complex and contradictory beings. Morrison loves to shoot the take off in unpredictable directions, which mostly but not always works, yet he never loses sight of where he’s going with his strong ensemble cast. If you can’t be emotionally affected by the clinching scene between the new husband and his suddenly sadder but wiser sister, they probably buried your heart ahead of the rest of you.

Nancy C. gave it a0:
Sinister "Deliverance" meets simpering Melanie Wilkes by way of the lobotomized dysfunction of "The Royal Tennenbaums". A feast of sterotypes and short cuts. C'mon, put a littie effort into it next time. This movie was an insult, I don't care where the director was born.

Dom B. gave it a2:
To me, this film was one big construct. The characters were excruciatingly unbelievable, with the possible exception of Amy Adams's Ashley, and the storyline felt devised by someone who thinks in cliche. Very hard to watch.

Randall G. gave it a1:
I'm from the South, know many people who share these types of values, and found this film horribly condenscending and full of sterotypes. I think poor Scott Glenn had few lines than Boo Radley in TKAM. Why do all the "good" country people look like a Jerry Springer show? Country people can't look sophisticated (and thin)? I almost thought the family would say, "Y'all come back, y' hear?" at the end. Bigoted and prejudice in the worse way: for our own good.

Junebug Sony Pictures Classics

Junebug
Sony Pictures Classics