Junebug (2005)

Junebug has 'indie film' written through it like a stick of rock. Taking place over a few days in the life of a South Carolina family and seen through the eyes of British Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), there are lots of scenes were not much happens, wry observational moments of humour and then a feeling of not very much having happened by the end. That said, it's a well constructed and played piece, whether there was a point to be found or not. And the main draw, the reason I recorded it, is Amy Adams' sparkly performance as heavily pregnant Ashley, the other woman to have married into the Johnsten household.

Ashley is incredibly perky, none-too-bright, but with a heart of gold, and she desperately wants Madeleine to like her and the rather standoffish family of her new husband George (Alessandro Nivola). His mother Peg (Celia Weston) is suspicious of Madeleine, and feels threatened by her globe-spanning childhood and modern ways, while she and her family have never left their provincial town, and are ardent church goers, much to the bemusement of Madeleine. She sees her new husband in a different light through his interactions with his stoic father (Scott Wilson) and troubled brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie, from The O.C.), but there are no grand revelations - this being a small indie film you have to watch the reactions and read between the lines to find the emotion and meaning.

There are no laugh out loud moments, but there are plenty of amusing touches, particularly Madeleine's new artist client, who paints pictures of Civil War battles, but each combatant has a massive cock included. Odd. There are also many smaller, touching moments, often silent, between the characters. Johnny may have a chip on his shoulder and seems to show no interest in Ashley now she's pregnant, but he still attempts to record a TV show on meerkats for her, becoming frustrated when he can't work the video - it's telling that he doesn't explain to her what he was trying to record, because that would be admitting that he was doing it for her.

When Ashley goes into labour events take a sad turn, but it's to the credit of the filmmakers that the movie doesn't end on a low note - there is more inspiration and hope that anything. And perhaps that was Junebug's point all along, to show that family is strong enough to survive anything that stands in the way, and that although lacking in elaborate gestures of love, it's the small things that can count the most.