Juno

Tonight I was reminded of the horrors of semi-adolescent filled movie theatres. You know, the ones where the audience and their behaviour is far more chill inducing than the action on the screen. I suppose it might have been worse, there were no Gummy Bears flung about, but I really think if I'm paying 12 bucks to see a movie I shold be able to enjoy it. It is official, it will take a really great movie to drag me out of the leather bound comfort (and child free) of the VIP theatres (AKA the best $ 5 I have EVER spent).

Juno was just such a film. Unique voices at the multiplex seem rare these days but the voices in this movie were fresh (too fresh at times) and unique. With the past year full of sequels and remakes, it’s always nice when a true indie pokes out its colorful head and gets real distribution. Juno is such a film, a movie with a character and charm all its own. Filled with fun dialogue, great performances and compelling characters to propel it forward, it is a film worth seeing. I don’t think it’s as great as all the hype surrounding it, but it still makes for a solid movie experience.

Juno follows the exploits and decisions of 16-year-old Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) as she discovers that her boredom-induced activities with best friend and love interest Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera) have led to an unplanned pregnancy. After Juno decides to go through with the pregnancy and give the child up for adoption, the latter half of the film centers around Juno’s interactions with adoptive parents Mark (Jason Bateman) and Vanessa Loring (Jennifer Garner).

One of the first thing you’ll notice about Juno is the writing. Penned by first time screenwriter Diablo Cody, Juno exists in that world where everybody is quirky and witty and clever. I understand that Cody is a 29 blogger whose previous claim to fame was her blog (and of course the fact that she is a former stripper). Sometimes this witty dialogue can be off-putting and phony, but it works here. Now we know what a 16-year old character written by a 29-year old blogger sounds like.

One things I really liked about the movie is how they didn’t portray Juno as a victim. She’s not a poor hapless teenager who got into trouble. She’s not in a ridiculous relationship that she’s trying to force to work. She’s got the “cheese to [her] macaroni”. Juno isn’t walking about moping about the baby within that she won’t be raising. She’s walking about moping about a boy, and she wants to get the band back together. She’s not solely defined by the fact that she accidentally got pregnant.

Of course, there are those who are condeming the film for this; if the pregnant teen is not depicted as going through the valley of hell than the right message is not sent. Frankly, I prefer this message - 'bad things happen to decent people and you have to try and make the best of things'. Doesn't this provide some level of hope for all of us?

The film's feel is neither saccharine nor preachy, and the musical score adds the right (quirky - the word for the day apparently) flavors. In lesser hands, humor might have made the action seem wacky, even distasteful- after all, there really is nothing funny about a pregnant sixteen year old. But Cody and Reitman put humor to its best use: as an antidote Juno, her father (J.K. Simmons, brilliant) and her stepmother (Allison Janney - equally brilliant, as always), like most of us, use to cope with their lives. When Juno tells her dad she's pregnant, his disappointment is real but not over-the-top. "I thought you were a girl who knew when to say 'when'", is all he tells Juno - there is no verbose condemnation, no antics, but a heartfelt remark. "I was hoping she'd been expelled for drug use" he quips to Juno's stepmother in the same wry, deadpan tone that his daughter seems to have inherited.

Juno provides a refreshing and satisfying detachment from what we’ve come to expect from a teen comedy and the movie industry in general. Page’s talented and honest performance truly underscores the all-around solid performances of the cast. Combined with the cutting tongue-in-cheek writing of Cody’s magnificent script, “Juno” delivers on all levels and is truly this winter’s best and most deserving surprise

Comments

[Kim]

Yeah, Jerry - I agree with you about the message. Why does everything have to be pro or con - can't we just have movies that entertain, with good characters, smartly written, and interesting? Must everything preach?

I also got to see this before much of the hype, so I can say that didn't affect me so much and I really enjoyed it.

[Jerry]

How true. I guess movies have always have had a wee bit of a subversive role in depicting what the directors want us to see or think. It is nice to just be entertained though. We sure laughed a lot throughout this film.