Rebel with a Clause

Ellen Jovin at her 'Grammar Table'

Grammar guru Ellen Jovin begins her film by diagramming a sentence, leading one to worry this will be a back-to-school exercise in learning the fine points of grammar. But after she sets up her “Grammar Table’ and engages curious bystanders, it thankfully evolves into a different experience. The documentary follows Jovin’s travels through all 50 states, where she enthusiastically answers questions posed by the grammar-curious, talking to a variety of spirited Americans genuinely interested in the rules of grammar.
Accompanied, filmed, and edited by Jovin’s tall, grinning husband, Brandt Johnson, Rebel with a Clause is a fast-paced trip across the nation. Couples argue about the Oxford comma while others accept answers to their lifelong problems with language and punctuation as we watch, learn, and laugh. The film is non-political, though it is amusing when a scruffy-looking man wearing a MAGA hat wanders up to Jovin’s table in New York City and asks, “What’s an adjective?” Alert and charming as usual, Jovin supplies a clear and sobering answer, and the man shuffles off. “It was the most moving experience of our journey” Jovin and Johnson said during the film’s post-screening discussion at the IFFBoston.  There have been offers, but for now the movie is self-distributed; it is available for private group screenings. (There are hints that it may become a series.) With 400 hours of footage in the can, there’s plenty of material.

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