The Pitch: No,
I swear; MY story of going back home is unique and special.
Hollywood has a lot of unwritten rules like
"never ask a producer what they actually do" or "it's fair to
rate a production by the quality of its craft services". There's an
important one for screenwriters that goes something like this: "All
Hollywood screenwriters must have a screenplay about going back home".
They don't have to sell the script or even attempt to get it made, but they all
have to have one in a drawer at their desk. It's a WGA membership requirement,
I believe.
The "going back home" movie is one that
filmmakers love to make. Most people in Hollywood came somewhere else. A lot of
people move from small towns to big cities, and when they go back home, they
feel out of place. This isn't unique to filmmakers, but they're the only ones
who can then make a 90 minute reflection on it. And it's the easiest exercise
in writing what you know, since it basically demands conflict.
The trouble that most of these movie have is knowing
how to distinguish between what's different and what's bad. If someone leaves
home, presumably it's because there's something about that place they didn't
like. They don't agree with the people there. There isn't enough opportunity.
They don't fit in. Even if they have affection for the place, it tends to come
from a place of superiority, which is perfectly natural. If you decide you
don't want something, you can approximate why someone else would want that, but
it never really makes sense to you. So, if you leave a place because it isn't
what you want, you feel there's something wrong with the people who do want
that.
I think Junebug's heart is in the right place. This isn't a movie about
Embeth Davidtz constantly being disgusted by her husband's family. She wants to
get along with them. She's desperate to find things they have in common. She
asks her father-in-law about his woodworking. She's so proud when she thinks
she found his missing screwdriver. She doesn't look at her energetic
sister-in-law (Amy Adams) as a pest. She wants to bond with her. The problem I
kept running into was that it always felt like her coming "down" to
their level. Adams is always talking about how smart and sophisticated Davidtz
is. The mother-in-law is concerned that Davidtz thinks she's better than them.
Her brother-in-law is resentful of his brother's life. It's also not helpful
that the artist Davidtz is there to visit is a complete cartoon, which reflects
on the area as well. At least when movies do the lazy "People from the
cities have no heart. People in small towns have no brains" dichotomy,
there's a simple dividing line. But, in Junebug, Davidtz is a good
person, or at least trying to be one.
Before you accuse me of reading too much into this,
ask yourself one question: Is anyone in this movie other than Davidtz and her
husband smart? I know they aren't educated, but are they smart? I'd say no.
They are nice. The father-in-law is close, but he's really just stoic. I can't
think of any point when one of the in-laws is smarter than Davidtz. A great
counter-point to this is Friday Night Lights. That show is filled with
characters who aren't traditionally "smart" who the show fully respects
and never looks down on. It really isn't that hard. All you have to do is think
about why these characters chose this life.
Sorry for the diatribe. I'm sure Junebug is
suffering for the sins of past movies of its ilk. Junebug is far from
the worst offender of this urban superiority complex. As I mentioned, it
actually puts in an effort with its characters. The movie loves Amy Adams, and
who can blame it? She's terrific and lovable. Her Oscar nomination for this
makes a lot of sense. I think Benjamin McKenzie has an impossible character to
play. He does get my favorite scene though. I love during the baby shower when
he sees the show on about meerkats and tries to record it. It's such a sweet
gesture. I spent so much of the movie wondering if he even likes his wife. That
scene confirms that he just has trouble expressing his affection for her.
I like how Davidtz's husband is sidelined for most
of the movie, yet he get the last line, about how much he hates it there. First
of all, he doesn't really. We've seen plenty to know otherwise. It's just not
somewhere he could live. Also, it's a reminder that there's a whole other movie
we aren't seeing that's about him looking back on the place he grew up in and
worrying about if his wife and family will get along. I think it's shitty of
him for laying on the guilt trip for Davidtz not going with him to the
hospital. Maybe I'm heartless, but I think it's excusable for her to miss it.
There's a legit work crisis and she has only known these people for a couple days.
Adams might've not even given birth by the time she got back. How was she to
know there would be a miscarriage? That all bothered me. It seemed like a late
course correction by the movie, trying to sell Davidtz out by painting her as
the self-centered city person after spending so much of the movie avoiding that
angle.
Verdict: Weakly Don't Recommend
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