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Celia Weston (left) and Alessandro Nivola co-star in Junebug.
It’s never easy for one to meet her in-laws for the first time, especially after she has already wed their son, but for the outsider in Junebug, Phil Morrison’s astutely-observed if slow-moving debut drama, this homecoming seems more like a case of breaking and entering.
That outsider is Madeleine (the gifted Embeth Davidtz), an aggressive art dealer who owns a Chicago art gallery specializing in outsider works. At a function she meets George Johnston (Alessandro Nivola), a successful something-or-other (Morrison and screenwriter Angus McLachlan never clue the viewer in to what he does; we just know he’s successful at it and cocky because of it) who has escaped his rural North Carolina roots. A week later, the two marry, and only six months later, on her way to court a prospective artist living a half hour away from the Johnstons, does Madeleine convince George to shoehorn in a visit to his own family.
The Johnstons do not all greet Madeleine with open arms. George’s father, Eugene (pitch-perfect Scott Wilson) is stoic, but kind, while his mother, Peg (Celia Weston, spot-on as ever) is more defensive, deflecting her anger at George, whom she has not seen in three years, upon his new wife. George, it turns out, is her clear favorite, which may explain why younger brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie) resents George so. One is never quite sure; McLachlan never delves into this matter further. Only Johnny’s very pregnant wife, Ashley (Amy Adams) is eager to welcome an addition to her family that will share her interloper status.
What follows is an exploration of idiosyncrasies along both family and cultural lines. McLachlan’s idea is not the most original, nor does it strive for the highest degree of difficulty, but it measures instead an enormous degree of depth. Playwright Harold Pinter, who famously wrote The Homecoming, defined the work through his pacing of dialogue and tone, and in a lesser way, so does Morrison. Whether they say a little or a lot, none of the characters reveal much of what is on his or her mind, save for the reserved Eugene. Wilson completely understands the rhythms of this man, and is the only character to ever speak without some form of judgment or condescension.
Peg resents the worldly Madeleine for everything she is not: thin, independent, successful, and caretaker of George. But McLachlan paints neither woman in a two-dimensional manner. He respects the choices each character has made, and Junebug appreciates the different priorities people make in their lives. Johnny, a dropout who married Ashley, his high school girlfriend and still lives at home, is more hostile, and one unnecessary scene demonstrates that much of the vitriol he spews is really self-directed. Not only is this scene unsubtle, it betrays the character. Tim Robbins suffered a similar fate in Mystic River. Both characters were troubled in their own way, and though they may have been smart, they were lacking in self-awareness, a gift their respective films give them anyway, perhaps to make the character more likable, or the actor, or maybe both.
McLachlan makes a larger error later in the movie. Madeleine’s visit makes clear that she still has much to learn about George, who is largely absent from her dealings with the Johnstons, but late in the movie George makes an out-of-the-blue charge that Nivola cannot justify without making the audience dislike him and also forcing the audience to judge Madeleine. Up until this point, the audience had viewed the action through her eye. Morrison makes this sudden change to a more omniscient perspective too late in the game to fully earn it.
McLachlan’s greatest triumph lies in Ashley. This is due in no small part to Adams, in the kind of beautiful, enthralling, human performance year-end awards once existed to recognize. Deceptively smart and God-fearing, Ashley is the one who can find a way to connect to each member of her family, and turns out to be the most gracefully strong member of the family.
No, Junebug is not quite perfect, but then again, neither is any family. And Morrison proves himself to be a voice worth welcoming.
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