Well Deserved Praise

I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Blistering performances.

My favorite films share a certain quality -- a sense of quirky community, with stories driven by the needs of the characters. "My LIfe as a Dog" and "What's Eating Gilbert Grape?" by Lasse Halstrom come to mind, as does Bill Forsythe's beautiful "Local Hero." Savoca takes this type of character-driven story into the realm of magical realism, through the use of beautiful cinematography and just the right amount of whimsical animated sequences, occurring at just the right moments.As in all of his films, the characters in "Around June" are living on the margins of society. Each one, brilliantly acted, has his or her own need -- to love and be loved, to be understood, to live life fully.If you are looking for guns and explosions, this is NOT the film for you. However, if you are interested in a beautifully shot and moving insight into the human heart, "Around June" will leave you feeling refreshed, with your eyes open to the possibility of magic that is around, and within, us all.

A love story like a fairy tale with Samaire Armstrong as the Princess and a hot Latin as the Prince! Her father prevents them from being together and when they dream of each other we see it in ANIMATION! The most creative film I've seen in a long time. I felt so much for the characters, for June, routing for her to be set free.Happy to be invited to a private screening, to enter a new world and be taken out of my seat. I close my eyes and can still picture June pretending to fly over the Pacific. So dreamlike and such a change to most of everything we see now which is this horrible, bland reality. It's been several weeks and I still think of the film, which is why I'm writing this review - a true original! Thank you!

The photography in this picture is dynamite if you will excuse me getting kind of 70s on the terminology. This is a rough part of town that just glows. The thought process behind the film seems to want to accentuate the parts of our worlds that seem coarse to the naked eye but on closer inspection have a certain light. If you go into it with that mindset I think you will discover new ways of seeing. I was also impressed with the way the actors committed to characters that are very fairy tale in nature. The realist in me balked but it forced me to take a more romantic view of the world which is necessary at times. Gives a new meaning to the phrase "rose colored glasses."

Around June shows the lesser Photographed but actually more arrestingly beautiful East Central face of the City of SF's Portrero Hill Area Amazing animation sequences interspersed throughout the film. The Wonderful Samaire Armstrong turns in a Bravura while Nuanced and Subtle Performance....The four strong leads keep a taut dynamic humming Till the end.... The City and Samaire both have a Radiant Presence in this Film and the eccentricities of the finely drawn Characters evoke Empathy... My favorite sort of film characters... Characters sidelined from the mainstream by choice and/or circumstance.... That cry out an existential exclamation I Am!! In a howl of pain or triumph!