Sight & Sound

March 2006

Phil Morrison's debut feature is a slow-burning, acutely observed comedy of manners. In exploring the relationship between the big city gallery owner and her husband's dysfunctional small-town North Carolina family, Morrison touches on several uncomfortable issues; the prejudices of outsiders about the US South; the class divide in America; conflict between small rural communities and the big city; the oppressive weight of family ties and responsibilities. The one character able to overcome the prejudice and unstated hostility between the two worlds is Madeleine's pregnant sister-in-law Ashley. Played with tremendous verve by Amy Adams, she is a relentless optimist. She seems almost star-struck by George's new wife. "You were not!" she exclaims in disbelief when she learns that Madeleine was born in Japan. There is something heroic about the way she refuses to see the bad side in anyone. "God loves you just the way you are, but he loves you too much to stay that way," is her tactful way of signalling her disapproval of her husband's boorish behaviour.

-- Geoffrey MacNab

New York Daily News

September 2005

Everything could have gone wrong in this deliberately paced drama about sophisticated art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz), who joins her new husband (Alessandro Nivola) in a visit to his very rural Southern clan. There are accents to be mastered; a pinup boy (Benjamin McKenzie of "The O.C.") aiming for indie cred, and an untested director tackling serious issues his first time out. And what do you know? It all works beautifully. Phil Morrison and his equally inexperienced screenwriter, Angus MacLachlan, dissect the inevitable culture clash with insight and humor that, for the most part, skims confidently past clichés. It seems unfair to single anyone out from the superb ensemble cast, but Celia Weston, as Madeleine's disapproving mother-in-law, delivers a resonantly subtle turn, while Amy Adams won a justly deserved award at Sundance for her touching portrayal of Madeleine's flaky sister-in-law. And yes, "O.C." fans, it turns out that McKenzie can do more than moon over Marissa.

-- Ruthe Steinn

San Francisco Chronicle

September 2005

My Sundance favorite, "Junebug," also mines a familiar experience: Young man (or woman) from the sticks moves to the big city and reinvents himself, forgetting the family who raised him, but now mostly embarrasses him. Screenwriter Angus MacLachlan and director Phil Morrison create a complex portrait of a North Carolinian who returns to his small town because his fancy Chicago wife has business nearby. The cast of mostly B-level actors are flawless, particularly Amy Adams, winner of a special jury prize for her portrayal of the pregnant sister-in-law, who's cowed by her new relation. As with all the best movies, "Junebug" has something everybody will be able to relate to.

-- Ruthe Steinn

New York Times

September 2005

A funny/painful study of clashing cultures and repressed hostilities within a tightly knit North Carolina clan, 'Junebug' is a small revelation that lingers in a region Hollywood movies visit all too seldom... Without condescending to its characters or becoming overtly political, the beautifully acted film distills antagonistic red-state, blue-state attitudes with a sad understanding that no amount of polite walking on eggshells can dispel the tension between them. Ms. Adams's portrayal of an effusive girl-child is especially outstanding, and the camera's leisurely exploration of the family house conveys a rich, indelible sense of place.

-- Stephen Holden

San Francisco Chronicle

September 2005

Nothing and everything happens in director Phil Morrison and screenwriter Angus MacLachlan's delightful, deliberately paced film about a Chicago art dealer's (Embeth Davidtz) visit to her new husband's (Alessandro Nivola) family in North Carolina... The standout in this exquisitely acted film is Amy Adams as the brother's pregnant young wife. Exuberant and loquacious, she showers the exotic-seeming art dealer with questions, compliments and affection. Endearing at every moment she might have been irritating, Adams received a special Sundance acting prize.

-- Carla Meyer

Newsday

September 2005

If Junebug is any indication it is only a matter of time before Morrison achieves the status of such veteran American directors as Jim Jarmusch, Gus Van Sant, and Woody Allen.

-- Jan Stuart

Seattle Times

September 2005

Phil Morrison's perfectly cast comedy is about a young man (Alessandro Nivola) who takes his elegant new wife (Embeth Davidtz) back home to meet his unhappy Southern family... What begins as a brittle comedy of manners becomes something warmer and more complex: a tale about love, in its infinite variety, and about optimism.

-- Moira Macdonald

Slant Magazine

September 2005

Morrison's sensitive study of the spirit and (in)hospitality of the South. . . a wonderful Amy Adams, who shows an incredible range of emotions. . . breathtaking visual textures

-- Ed Gonzalez

Entertainment Weekly

September 2005

I found "Junebug" to be a small miracle. It's a disarmingly delicate culture-clash comedy... Liberated from any trace of caricature, the film digs deep into the world of the South and into the treacherous karma of in-law relations.

-- Owen Gleiberman

New York Magazine

August 2005

"A subtle, artful film. . . His film quietly catches the strange dislocation city mice experience when they return home to the sticks.

-- Logan Hill

Hollywood Life

August 2005

Amy Adams is a revelation as the country wife who initially comes across as a birdbrain but turns out to be generous, curious, and far wiser than she first appears.

-- Stephen Farber

Seattle Post Intelligencer

August 2005

Has originality within its quirk. . . The performances by Davidtz, Celia Weston and especially Amy Adams as the garrulous, pregnant sister-in-law, stand out. . . Southerners are often portrayed as fools in movies, but Morrison has a strange way of giving them dignity while asking the bigger question of how much do we really know about those we love. He also has a way with landscape, imbuing stillness upon it as if we were watching everything from an outsider's new perspective.

-- Paula Nechak