Junebug

This is a straight up chick flick. Meaning its cast is nearly all women, the story is mostly about the woman, the women dominate the screen time and the men are just props. There isn't much here for a regular guy even if he likes these types of movies.

Given that, it's not a bad movie just not for everyone. The story is fine, the main character goes on a journey and changes the course of her life and there aren't a ton of really bad holes in the writing.

However, the local barista gets as much screen time as the "leading man". That guy is physically perfect (except for his ears) but is an emotional flower and is as delicate as a daisy. The father figure is just your typical father prop and offers nothing to the movie. The best friend has two kids but apparently no husband.

I'm not ripping on the movie but if you're a regular dude I would let your wife watch this one on her own.

This movie is overloaded with smiles and sweetness. You will probably have to watch some true crime after this to cleanse your palate. Nevertheless, the overarching premise of remembering your childhood dreams is a good one to explore.

The male love interest is honestly too perfect -- a common Hallmark issue. He is artsy, super-calm, incredibly forgiving, encouraging, ridiculously nice, remarkably available, and of course has rock-solid beefy arms. I think it would be great if Hallmark would take a risk and add some complexity to their lead characters -- especially the men.

The acting is fine and the production values are very good, even if it all feels a bit too easy, saccharine, and artificial. It's hard to relate to characters who so easily get everything that they want.

Juniper (Autumn Reeser) is stuck in life. Her boyfriend is a dud. Her children's book publishing workplace is under threat. She's a great editor, but her writing dreams have been sidelined. She's turning 40 and her parents gift her the wish box from her childhood. When she starts digging into the box, her eight year old inner child self Junebug (Mila Jones) appears to her and Junebug has issues with her 40 year old self. She has a meet-cute with hot mural artist Alex (Aaron O'Connell) and sees him as her illustrator.

This is very cute. Adding the little girl to the standard Hallmark romance is a great move. He's super hot and Autumn Reeser has always been great since the O. C. In the end, they can't get too far from the Hallmark of it all. There is very limited drama. She really needs to give him the book much sooner, but they leave it to the midway point. Give it to him at the end of the first act and drum up more drama. I am reminded of a commentary where the filmmaker says that every scene is an opportunity to add drama. Hallmark is usually missing that and this is no different.

A children's book editor, who really wants to be a writer, but isn't, "runs into" a very talented muralist.

At about the same time, her "eight year old self" shows up in her life. The little girl that plays that role is awesome!

The lead actress breaks up with the predictable, regular steady guy and goes out on a limb with the new muralist Illustrator. They begin to do a book together.

BTW Hallmark is putting the first kiss earlier and earlier into their movies.

Of course, the arc of the plot has to have a disappointing moment, and this one does.

This is funny, Hartfelt, and inspiring. I recommend you give it a try.

Love Autumn Reeser and Aaron O'Connell is okay, so wanted to check this out. Read an article that it took Autumn five years to get this made, so thought it would be something special. As I watched, I had the feeling I'd seen this before. Did a little digging and, sure enough, If You Believe was the original. I remember enjoying that film with Ally Walker and Hayden Panettiere. Junebug changed some details, but not enough to make this film original or warrant a five year production cycle, in my opinion. Autumn is always great and has wonderful chemistry with any scene partner, so if you're a fan of Hallmark movies you'll like this one. I recommend you watch the movie it's based on as that one was really good.