Nah, I already went into it in another thread and I should have just kept my mouth shut in this one. I consider myself as having threadshitted, and I apologize.
A brief hijack and I’m gone…
Well, this is not the thread for it, but there’s a very specific reason I hated Junebug, and that has to do with utterly and besottedly adoring Amy Adams’s character and hating how she was treated by the other characters (rather, how the screenwriters treated her, because there was no fucking reason whatsoever for that ending). I only came back into this thread to make sure you know and understand that I consider Ashley Johnsten one of the most wonderful characters who’s ever been committed to film, and Amy Adams’s performance one of the best I’ve seen in my life.
I liked the film and thought the acting was superior. The revelatory shot where Annette Benning’s realizes what’s happening is an especially accomplished piece of non-verbal acting. And to credit the writers, her reaction was completely believable.
While I understand the objection initially raised by Eyebrows of Doom I don’t find that development entirely implausible. The real issue I had was this:
[spoiler]It is unbelievable to me that the Mark Ruffallo character would think that he is in Love with Julianne Moore’s character after a few weeks at most. I mean, come on, she may have a deft touch with succulents, but for all intents and purposes she is a bit of a scatter-brained middle aged housewife.
Julianne Moore is certainly a lovely woman, but I don’t buy the notion that a relatively successful middle aged guy with all the toys (vintage truck, motorcycle, sustainable foods mini-farm) and no attachments, i.e children or an ex, would contemplate chucking it all for a wholly unattainable woman (married, kids and lesbian to boot). I don’t believe he would be that stupid even if she is the mother of his newly discovered children.
He seems to have a healthy understanding of his own sexuality and plenty of available women who want his company. Falling in Love with Julianne Moore’s character? I simply don’t believe it.[/spoiler]
Are spoilers really necessary at this point? I don’t think he fell in love with her. He fell in love with the Road Not Taken. He’s enamored with his kids and while he seems too have lived a very free and itinerant lifestyle, he’s only now discovering that there’s something deep-rooted that appeals to him about having a family, being grounded, etc. Why else would he break up with Busty Afro Fox? Not because Moore is a better lay, but because he’s getting a taste of the superficial trappings of everything he’s missed, and thinks that somehow, it’s attainable without actually having to make any of the investments or sacrifices necessary. In that, it shows how emotionally immature his single life has made him, that he fails to reasonably grasp the affair for what it is, as opposed to what he’s projecting it could be.
I think you’re very close with this. More generally, it’s definitely a movie about choices made and choices therefore not made. Those unmade choices loom big in most peoples’ lives - Midlife-Crisis is a whole genre of movies - and most couples have to get past that stage in order to get on with the rest of their lives. Midlife Crisis choices are almost always bad ones, especially in movies. In fact, have you ever seen a good choice made in a Midlife Crisis movie? Never.
Look at Solitary Man, as a recent example.
Michael Douglas thinks he’s dying. So he lives every day as if it’s his last. Young girls, embezzlement, anger, short-term decision-making. He ends up destroying his life and every relationship he has. One problem. He doesn’t die.
The difference is that in Solitary Man the character is utterly despicable and in this movie the characters are good people going through a bad period. Huge difference. That’s why this is a far superior movie.
I haven’t liked many recent movies, including the ones that got good reviews and were supposed to be movies about adults. I liked this one a lot. Good people going through a bad period is what a good adult film is all about. I understand why many people are complaining about the choices made in the movie, although it’s important to remember that the movie was co-written and directed by a lesbian, one I don’t think was deliberating trying to degrade the image of lesbians. Just the opposite. You might have to be at least the age of the characters in the movie to really, really get it, though.
There were problems with the movie, of course. I didn’t like the way Laser’s character was essentially dropped halfway through. And if people keep casting Mia Wasikowska then she needs to grow a personality. She was better here than in the abomination that was Alice, but this was 10,000 times better a movie.
My husband and I both liked it. The tone seemed a little uneven, though; it seemed to start out thinking it was a comedy then gradually turn into a drama as the movie progressed. That was fine with us, if a little strange.
I also liked the somewhat unresolved but totally realistic ending, but I agree that Laser was completely ignored after the beginning of the movie. That was odd.
Yes, he did seem to get dropped from the whole last half of the movie. Until he gets the last line.
Also, the whole plotline with his buddy Clay and Clay’s obvious crush on Laser was just dropped & left unresolved. Possibly like real life, but in the movies we want to see endings to the stories!
I don’t think it was unresolved. The friendship ended as a result of their fight. One reason the fight happened was that Paul woke up Laser as to what a jackass Clay was. Nic had been trying to get Laser to see this, but Laser didn’t want to hear it from his mother. Some things are easier to accept from an outsider. Also, Paul was a positive male role model, which helped open Laser’s eyes.
This underscores one of the things I like about the movie: none of the main characters is all good or all bad. Paul’s presence actually helped the family in some ways.
I have to agree with Candide’s spoiler. The whole thing felt wrong and contrived just to create tension. The movie couldn’t decide if it was about the kids (first part) or the lesbian relationship (second half). Ruffallo’s character turns out just to be the sounding board for the various family members. Plus, the woman he was already in a relationship with was so hot I couldn’t believe he would even look at anyone else.
Anyway, I’m a straight guy and enjoyed the movie well enough. As with all such movies, by the end I slightly resented having my emotions manipulated so blatantly and that one issue seemed overly contrived. Over all it keep me watching with interest and I wouldn’t have minded if it went a bit further.
The OP very clearly states,