Some things should be heard and not seen.  One of them is hollering, a vocal art form best appreciated in sound and not in close-ups…at least not to the extent of looking at the hollers’ dental cavities.  However, the opening several shots of Junebug, the second film by director Phil Morrison, show exactly that.  What makes them odd is the following scene has nothing to do with hollering.  It is in an art museum where British-born art dealer Madeleine (Embeth Davidtz) meets her young, handsome husband George (Alessandro Nivola).  Their romance from courtship to marriage is condensed in a montage opening credit sequence set to the Stevie Wonder song “Hamour Love” (recorded by another R&B artiste Syreeta).  Recall the hollerings a moment ago?  Odd indeed.

Given the montage, romance is not the main plot of the film.  The visit to George’s folks is.  George Johnston hails from the South, specifically in North Carolina, but has not visited his folks in at least three years.  He does not plan to if not for Madeleine’s discovery of the next new artist David Wark right in George’s hometown.  Wark's phallus motif in his paintings makes for good comic relief, especially when he mentions that his choice of faces for the paintings (endowed phallus) are based on the impressions they make on him (such as George and president George W. Bush). 

The first glimpse of the Johnstons tells us why he does not want to come visit.  His dad Eugene (Scott Wilson) is taciturn, his mother Peg (Celia Weston) is contrastingly prickly, his brother Johnny (Benjamin McKenzie) resents him, and Johnny’s pregnant wife Ashley (Amy Adams) is garrulous.  You could not find a family more dysfunctional than the Johnstons.  But that is not the problem.  The problem begins (or continues, in Johnny’s mind) when George returns.  He receives a hero’s welcome, is doted upon by his parents, and almost made an icon by the community. 

Although Madeleine is the ‘outsider’ character, her husband George feels as much an outsider as she is treated.  She breaks the ice with his family by herself while he surveys the unoccupied areas of the house.  The outsider aspect of the newlyweds is implicit, allowing Madeleine’s drama – wrestling with Wark to dissuade him (and his lawyer sister) from signing with a rival art dealer – develop throughout the film.  However, it is upstaged by the poor but not pitiful supporting character: Johnny.

Johnny’s resentment towards his older brother is externally characterized without any attempts at subtlety.  It is as if Morrison does not want any surprises, and gives us Johnny’s raging emotions at maximum pressure long before George arrives.  Johnny’s role as the black sheep of the family is also cemented.  He is insensitive, ill-mannered, rewards Madeleine’s kindness with suspicion – especially by her overtly affectionate manner – and does not appreciate his Ashley’s love.  He is easily the least sympathetic character.  The icing on the cake comes when George plays sympathetic shoulder for Ashley’s tears after she miscarries.  Johnny retaliates by hurling a wrench on his brother’s forehead.  Resentment?  Nah, Johnny hates him.

Unfortunately, Johnny gets too much attention for his own good and overshadows everyone’s storyline.  Morrison often cuts to a close-up of Johnny if not pans the camera to include him in the frame, to the point.  It gets to the point that he is always expected to be seen, whether to reinforce him as the black sheep or capture his reaction especially towards the next thing George does (or does to him).  If it is not about his brother, it is his generally ill-mannered behavior, his excuse of low self-esteem stemming from not finishing high school (and struggling to study for his GED), or the condescending treatment towards him by his parents.  Even though Morrison gives the other family members a fair amount of screen time, the image of Johnny looms.

Ashley on the other hand is the most likable character, a direct contrast to her ignoble husband.  Her garrulousness can be at times annoying, which Madeleine knows firsthand when she plies her with a hundred icebreaker questions at rapid pace.  Ashley is the kind of homely, good girl every guy wants to marry but often ends up marrying a jerk (which incidentally is how Johnny is being depicted).  Ashley also admires the sophisticated, well-spoken beautiful (in Ashley’s eyes) and goal-driven Madeleine because she is everything Ashley is not but wishes to be.