The Consumer’s Corner

“It all started in a chair.” And from that chair comes a great, quirky comedy by director Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking). Juno tells the tale of Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page), a high school girl who gets pregnant after sleeping with her best friend (in a chair). At just sixteen she worries that she isn’t ready for parenthood and weighs her options. Does she have an abortion, actually become a mother, or give the baby to a deserving, caring couple? Juno goes through many moral and physical trials that lead to hilarity and irresistibility. Juno is a story of people getting what they really want in life.

Juno is one of the best characters we’ve seen in cinema in quite a while. Even though she’s just sixteen years old, she has an old soul. She’s not afraid to tell like it is and she’ll do it to your face. She loves classic punk rock and old horror/gore movies. She is very lovable yet tough, curt and very sarcastic. Ellen Page plays the role to perfection and it really isn’t an easy character to portray. At times Juno can seem bipolar, but Page never lets the audience feel disassociated from her. Juno isn’t the only great character in this film. Viewers will adore Juno’s father Mac (J.K. Simmons) who stands by his daughter through thick and thin. He is a great example of a protective dad who has witty humor with some one liners that’ll have you rolling. The other standout role is Juno’s best friend Paulie “Bleek” Bleeker (Michael Cera). Bleek is the strange, somewhat weird guy who everyone loves except the one he wants the most. Bleek would do anything for Juno, but Juno isn’t sure what she wants. Audiences will be less confused and want Bleek to be happy. It also stars Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman.

In her screenwriting debut, Diablo Cody creates a phenomenal work as she introduces new slang to the pop culture world and really captures the lives of ordinary teenagers very well. Her dialogue is well defined and no holds barred. She hits the nail on the head as to how teenagers act and talk to each other. The movie grabs your attention immediately with the line “It all started in a chair” and doesn’t let go until its fading screen at the end of the film. Diablo Cody has written a very original screenplay that will have you laughing, falling in love and genuinely caring about its characters

The one thing I didn’t like about this movie is the soundtrack. The movie opens with a very out of place “twangy” country western song that the audience will see just how out of place it is once it learns more about Juno. It isn’t the only song that feels out of tune in the movie; luckily the screenplay is so strong that it’s easy to overlook. There are two songs that fit very well with the feel of the film so it wasn’t a complete fiasco, but the opening song did have me shaking my head (man I’m being critical today!).

I finally have something to cheer for Sunday at the Academy Awards. Juno has already won numerous awards and was nominated for four major Oscars: Best Achievement in Directing: Jason Reitman, Writing Best Original Screenplay: Diablo Cody, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Ellen Page and the big daddy Best Motion Picture of the Year. While Juno is a major underdog in all these categories, the accolades speak volumes for this movie. You don’t need my recommendation, look at all those nominations! This is a wonderful film.

Official Site

–Andy Gates

juno, movies, academy awards

Thanks to Good News Film Reviews for linking this article.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 19th, 2008 at 5:21 am and is filed under TV Shows & Movies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.