Junebug

Junebug is one of those once-every-other-year kinds of movies. It’s so insightful in the way it portrays people that it’s downright scary at times. Director Phil Morrison and his cast are masters at portraying the nuances that make human characters human rather than vehicles blathering a bunch of words strung together to fill up movie time. Embeth Davidtz does career-best work as an art dealer who must meet her new husband’s family, and Amy Adams (who won an award at Sundance for her performance) is luminescent as her new sister-in-law. This is Morrison’s feature-film directorial debut, and it’s an amazing start. Based on the quality of performances he’s managed to assemble for Junebug, Hollywood’s best will probably be clamoring to work for the guy. Alessandro Nivola is terrific as the well-meaning yet secretive husband, and Scott Wilson is his usual great self as his father.