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Juno
Posted: Dec 19, 2007 in Movies
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With "Juno," the follow-up to his 2005 indie hit "Thank You For Smoking," director Jason Reitman proves he's ready to surpass his famous dad (Ivan Reitman) as the best filmmaker in the family.
Penned by rookie screenwriter Diablo Cody -- a 20-something former copy typist who wrote the 2006 book "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper" -- "Juno" teems with Cody's wry, playful energy.
Her only failing is being a little too pleased with her own prickly one-liners and cute comebacks. Early on, "Juno" comes close to collapsing under the weight of its self-satisfied script (you know, like every movie Kevin Smith has ever made). But as "Juno" glides into its second half-hour, the too-clever-by-half dialogue recedes into the background while the inner struggles of the main characters come into sharp relief.
Reitman deserves much of the credit for keeping "Juno" grounded, but equally deserving is the cast. Ellen Page gives a career-defining performance as the titular character, a droll teenager girl with a stone-dry sense of humor. Michael Cera ("Arrested Development," "Superbad") is typically pitch-perfect as her gawky, doe-eyed best friend, Paulie.
The portrayal of Juno's family life resembles the homely realism of the sitcom "Roseanne." Her parents, played wonderfully by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney, are working-class folks who fall far short of perfection, but who have Juno's best interests at heart. And worrying about Juno's best interests, it turns out, is central to the story.
Shortly after her first ever sexual encounter (with her pal Paulie, who's a little more into her than she is him), Juno learns she's pregnant. After breaking the news to her parents -- "I was hoping she was expelled, or into hard drugs," her stepmother remarks to her father -- Juno decides to have the baby and put it up for adoption.
While thumbing through a local coupon magazine called the PennySaver a few days later, Juno sees a classified ad featuring the faces of a shiny, happy suburban couple: the perfect parents.
Jason and Jennifer (played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) indeed do seem perfect at first, especially Jason. A well-scrubbed commercial jingle composer by day, the 30-something dreamboat has a killer punk-rock collection (on vinyl, no less) and knows all there is to know about classic schlock horror films.
Chronologically, "Juno" begins around conception and lasts through the entire gestation period. As the movie develops, shades and secrets of key characters are gradually revealed. Like the baby growing in Juno's belly, individuals who are at first indistinct grow increasingly complex. And Juno -- who seems to have experienced her entire life before pregnancy from an ironic, and often sardonic, distance -- grows the most of all. Her veneer of teenage dismissiveness is ripped away to reveal a desperate desire to understand why humans are so often so selfish and shallow.
But even in her despair, Juno still cracks wise. After a particularly harrowing night away from home, Juno's dad asks her where she's been. "Just out dealing with things way beyond my maturity level," she responds in a deadpan tone as mournful as it is cynical.
Like its characters, "Juno" is far from perfect: The script is too stagey, the soundtrack is too schmaltzy and the ending is too pat. Yet it makes for a deeply enjoyable watch, warts and all. Smart, snarky and unfailingly sweet, "Juno" is poised to become this year's "Napoleon Dynamite." -- an off-beat little comedy that makes it big on the strength of its originality, wit and the lovability of its lead characters.
Thank You For Smoking was hilarious!
Dead on, Matthew. Excellent movie, with a flaw or two.
I hope "schmaltzy" is synonymous with s-h-i-t-t-y, because the soundtrack to this movie is extremely disappointing and painful to the ears.
I loved, loved, loved this movie. I'm a new (but devoted) fan of Diablo Cody!! I was worried that it'd be labeled a "chick flick"; that a guy wouldn't "get it". I'm thrilled that there are at least two men who seemed to enjoy it almost as much as I did. Great review.
Good to know, as I'm going to a screening of it tonight. Great review!
RE: The soundtrack -- It is composed exclusively of hyper-quirky and hyper-cutesy songs by Kimya Dawson. I have enjoyed some of her music on its own (see the Moldy Peaches) but a movie with nothing BUT her music? It worked with Simon and Garfunkel in "The Graduate," and it worked with Cat Stevens in "Harold and Maude." But it doesn't work here --- although the scene where Juno and Paulie sing "Anyone Else But You" is a good one.
I went into this movie with high hopes. From the previews it looked like it was right up my alley. But from the moment the opening credits started, I started to get a bad feeling that this movie wanted to be Napoleon Dynamite. The long, drawn out, artsy attempt at credits accompanied by an annoying, repetitive song. The never ending barrage of one-liners hoping to make their way into popular culture. Ridiculous, non-relevant, situational side-stories, such as her step-mom who was OBSESSED with dogs, but couldn't get one because Juno is allergic. I was so distracted by the attempt at mimicry, that I could scarcely focus on the story.
And the story...to the best of my understanding, was a 1.5 hour joke about teen pregnancy, where childbirth was the punchline. Juno's lines were written so dryly that she seemed more like a jaded, 40-something, feminist stand-up comedian, than a scared 16 year old girl faced with an unplanned pregnancy. And the parents' reaction to finding out she was pregnant, which was 2 seconds of disappointment followed by a joke and some friendly banter, made them totally unbelievable as parents. Michael Cera's character was the same kid he played in "Arrested Development" and "Superbad"...which is to say he's just delivering lines.
I REALLY wanted to like this movie. I TRIED to like it. But none of the elements gelled right. It felt forced and derivative. The characters felt 1-dimensional. I didn't HATE Juno, and would probably watch it when it comes on cable in a few months, but had I not seen the movie at a free preview screening, I would be suffering from buyers remorse right now.
I might gave to go see it
Such a good movie, not what i was expecting at all. i would see it agian.
"Juno" is a smart, cute flick. But if you want to see a better movie in a similar genre, check out "Waitress." Snaps to Ellen Page though. She rocked the role.
Yes the movie was very good! But I thought it started to get a little slow, but picked up! The Girl playing JUNO WAS AMAZING!!! Very cute.
LOVE this movie. First movie that I have seen in a LOOONG time that I want to actually own on DVD. Ellen Page is amazing and very funny. All of her lines are very clever, worth repeating but not in a "Let's Go Streaking!" or "Tina, come eat your dinner! GOSH" sort of a way.
Definitely a must see again movie!
It was a great movie would recommend to people, was expecting different, but this ended up being a really good movie
I enjoyed the movie a great deal. Love the scene in the end where Ellen Paige, and Michael Cera are singing to each other in the end.
I actually enjoyed the soundtrack a great deal, and have it downloaded on my Zune. Yes, there are a lot of songs by the Moldy Peaches, but not all of the songs are by them. There are a few other good artists as well.
I guess each person has their own taste in music. I can see some users above rated the music terrible.. You'll just have to find out for yourself.
I was put off the the witty one-liners and seeming arrogance of Juno. I understand that there is a suspension of disbelief in some films, but a 16 y/o girl from Minnesota would not talk like that let alone anyone else on planet earth...it was too much for me or most audience members to handle. Therefore, didn't find myself invested and the characters or the story. Ellen page did a pretty good job with the role, the writing just too self-indulgent and certainly not deserving of the golden doll it garnered. Maybe this was a "Hey everyone, lets give an award to the artsy tattoed chic this year" moment.
P.S. To those who are tempted to reply with a "you just don't understand because your not a woman or haven't been pregnant" response, please keep in mind that this is just an opinion of a film-lover and nothing more. I am not nor ever have been against broads wanting to feel empowered, so I hope this waste of money and 90 minutes did that for ya.
Cheers!
"but a 16 y/o girl from Minnesota would not talk like that"
You obviously haven't been to Minnesota lately.
My 2 cents: It was very good, although in the middle of the film there seemed to be some weird editing going on where the time-line got extremely rushed and the story distorted a little bit. No big deal though..
However, as a musician, they screwed up when the Musician husband/father said "Juno, as in the city in Alaska." Any real musician would of said, "as in the famous analog keyboard by Roland." The Juno is one of the most monumental keyboard ever - contributing to many of the beloved sounds of the 80's pop, dance and synth groups of that time. Almost every digital keyboard has an emulated sound from this historical keyboard. There's no way, this "score-writing musician" wouldn't know about such a keyboard. Woops... a nerdy oversight there!
My 2 cents: It was very good, although in the middle of the film there ...
Good call, though it would have ruined the great joke with him uncomfortably saying "No?...okay." I love how the camera stayed on him for an extra second or two.