A buggy film

Anyone seen Junebug? Amy Adams will most likely be nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Embeth Davitz's loquacious sister-in-law. Phil Morrison's direction alternated between the assured and the awkward, likehe wasn't sure whether to stress the Eudora Welty-Flannery O'Connor grotesqueries in the script or the character interplay at which he excelled for most of the picture. There are beautiful scenes between Adams and the improbably named Alessandro Nivoli as well as between Davitz and Scott Wilson which almost compensated for the Sling Blade-meets-Actors-Studio tomfoolery that ensued whenever Frank Hoyt Taylor's dullwitted artist was onscreen. Adams triumphs over every bad idea tossed in her direction, like being saddled with horrible please-laugh-I-beg-you lines like this one, in response to Davidz's admission that she counts horseback riding and reading as hobbies: "At the same time?"

Special mentions: Yo La Tengo's spare score.