Juanita is a 2019 drama about a fed up woman who takes a Greyhound bus to Paper Moon, Montana where she reinvents herself and finds her mojo.
First, hooray for Alfre Woodard. Seriously. It’s about time she got a project like Clark Johnson‘s Juanita. This is her film and she makes it her own, almost impossible to resist, and it’s great to see her at in at top billing, the actress at it since the late 1970s. Unfortunately, while she remains every possible reason to watch her latest effort, the film doesn’t quite know what to do with her, despite some creative directional flourishes, leaving Juanita a pleasant enough watch but not all that remarkable.
Juanita (Woodard) is a hard working nurse at a local Columbus hospital, glad to have a job but not at all invested. She’s got three grown kids from two different fathers, none all the inspiring, one in jail, one a teen mother, and the other probably messed up in something bad. They don’t really respect her and as such, she needs a change and decides a road trip is in order, heading for Butte, Montana and new beginnings.
The first creative experiment Johnson throws at us is breaking the fourth wall, with Juanita, right from start, talking directly to us as she navigates along her complicated life. It’s a risky choice and while this sort of direct-to-the-audience confessional flare does have a moment of interest when it kicks off, it quickly loses traction and continues to deflate the more the movie relies on it. It creates an imbalance is the presentation that keeps the viewer somewhat unsure how to take it all in, especially when things kind of get real.
Juanita tries to draw us into her troubles, and the movie works to make that feel humorous, as with her daydreams of a relationship with Blair Underwood, who actually shows up for the part, and yet the film simply can’t find its footing in how best to build this to a more profound experience, even as there are several clever moments that truly have some spark, most particularly with how Johnson corals much of what Juanita lives through into some genuinely innovate transitions that have a definitive theatrical flow. There’s even a musical number. Sort of.
There’s a lot to like about Juanita the movie but more the character, with Woodard giving the woman a certain identifiable driftiness any of us might feel some connection with, making her very watchable. However, this is a film about conversations that introduce Juanita to a variety of colorful types that populate her world with all kinds and flavors, leaving this a road movie packed with potential but never quite mustering up the energy to make it hum as it should. While Woodard truly is great fun to watch, the movie often is not, keeping this a tentative choice.