Director: Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking)
Writer: Diablo Cody
Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Running time: 92 min.
In my experience, expectations are everything. They can single handedly make or break a film for a person. Having read rave after rave about The Toronto International Film Festival’s darling, Juno (including folks in the third row), my expectations were through the roof. I’ve been so looking forward to this film for weeks. Finally it shows up in Minneapolis (where screenwriter Diablo Cody resides from) to a (that’s “a” – singular) packed theater every night this week. I could hardly control my anticipation. And then the dialogue starts.
Maybe it was the incredibly annoying audience that seemed to genuinely think that every single line spoken in this film and every sinlge facial expression is laugh-out-loud hilarious. Maybe it’s the fact that Rainn Wilson is only in the first five minutes of the film with the most annoying, un-funny dialogue I’ve heard this year. Maybe it’s 5 degrees (that’s fahrenheit to our metric friends) in Minnesota and I’m cold and bitter. Whatever it is, I was turned off from this film from the get-go. Though it eventually won me over.
The storyline is simple and surprisingly original. I say original because I can’t think of another movie off the top of my head that revolves around a pregnant teen. I say surprisingly because I’m shocked the issue has not been tackled before (and often). Maybe it has and I’ve not paid attention. Still, the way it’s portrayed here is certainly original in its cutesy sort of way. Anyway, the story goes as follows: because “she’s bored,” 16 year-old Juno (Ellen Page) gets pregnant from her dorky, high school friend, Pauly (Michael Cera). After deciding to not have an abortion, along with her supportive family and friends, Juno decides to give the baby up to a nice couple in the suburbs; played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. Then it just trolls along and we watch Juno over the course of nine months dealing with the kinds of things a pregnant teen might deal with; again, in a cute and fun way – not a serious way.
A side plot develops when Juno and prospective, adoptive father start to become friends and begin sharing music, movies and general interests with one another. This confuses the young man and he begins to have second thoughts about raising a child.
The beauty of the film is in fact its simplicity. The audience prances along with the characters as they make their decisions and crack humorous jokes about various situations. Nothing overly dramatic ever happens and very little that would spoil the mood. And the good news is, the story doesn’t seem to go where you think it’s going. There is a curvy road and even a slight angled turn here and there. Notice I didn’t mention twist, just slight adjustments to keep this film from being 100% predictable.
The actors are all first class. From the likely Oscar-nominated performance of our heroine and star, Ellen Page, to all of the fine character actors that play their parts; specifically JK Simmons and Allison Janney. Both start out as the typical disapproving parents, but as the film follows its tracks, we find that they are really so much more.
The role I found particularly surprising was Jennifer Garner. There’s nothing Oscar worthy about the role, but it was nice to see her in something that isn’t “ass-kicking” or a forgettable rom-com. She legitimately has the inklings of some real chops here and, like Juno’s parents, her character gives the audience a pre-conceived notion of who she is, then slowly changes throughout the course of the movie. Her scene at the mall with Juno is particulaly impressive in which she absolutely lights up the screen. Only one of two scenes in which Ellen Page is overshadowed by another actor.
Also, for the second time this year, a hometown film maker inserts several Minnesota inside jokes within the storyline. The first was the Coens’ No Country for Old Men. Juno increases the number of local references ten-fold: Ridgedale Mall (the mall I went to in high school to hang), Mankato (where I went to college), Benihana (I went there for Homecoming too), the list went on and on. I eat that kind of stuff up; though the 500 people I saw the movie with are the only ones in the entire world that can get a kick out of it.
The problem in my bitter experience is the unbearable dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly cute and full of charm. That doesn’t make it completely tolerable. In fact, too much cuteness makes me want to puke. A little bunny is cute. A little girl holding a bunny is even cuter. Add some balloons and a milk mustache and we’re bordering on excessive. Add a springer spaniel puppy tugging at the hem of her dress and we’ve got a full blown disaster of an image. Now I’m not calling Juno a disaster – not by any stretch of the imagination does it come close to being a disaster. But is it a bit pretentious and unbelievable? Like, yeah, it totally is home-skillet.
Juno’s character maybe an exception, but no one I remember from high school (remember, this takes place in Minnesota, so I was there) talks anything like this. The vocabulary of Juno is completely unrealistic. Plus, she’s too smart to be hanging with the cool kids (her best friend is on the cheerleading team) and way too cool and pretty to be hanging with geeks like Pauly Bleeker. Yet, she somehow manages both. Again though, it all comes down to the dialogue. I couldn’t get past it.
Every single line of dialogue feels written. Nothing feels natural about the entire screenplay. No one in real life talks likes this or behaves this way. At least not so fluently. Every character is just that, a quirky character for the audience to enjoy, not to figuratively sink their teeth into.
Again, I don’t want to be misunderstood as I’m sure to take flak for jabbing the gut a little bit of the darling film of the year, I DID enjoy the movie. It’s got some laughs that are worthy (though it’s not hysterically, drop to the floor hilarious), it’s overflowing with heart and charm and most importantly showcases Ellen Page and the HUGE star she is sure to become. I can recommend the film to pretty much anyone with confidence that they’ll enjoy themselves. On top of all this, I’d say the movie has about a 95% chance of being nominated for best picture. And maybe praising this film as one of the best of the year is just. But to me, when your entire picture hangs on the whims of the screenplay, and that screenplay never rings true in the slightest while attempting to a tackle a very serious and true issue, it simply cannot and will not enter my best of the year list. You may now commence with the hate mail.
Click “play” to see the trailer:
Links:
IMDb profile – full cast and crew
Official Site
Flixster Profile for JUNO
Hmmm, let the JUNO backlash begin! I didn’t love it at TIFF, but I know just from the reaction of the room, and most of my family/friends general film tastes, that this film should be wildly successful and well loved in the same vein as LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE was last year.
My problem has always been with the screenplay that is just well to darn screenplay-ish. The actors go a heck of a way to pull their characters (which exist only to make jokes and show off the coolness of the screenwriter for much of the run time, the word “smug” comes to mind.)
Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy the film quite a bit, but I found the darn thing hard to review because I couldn’t put my finger on why exactly it felt too screenplay-ish at the time.
As I’ve said many times before, I liked the film better when it was called GHOST WORLD
Oversimplifying, yes, but Terry Zwigoff’s films is better and too similar to be denied.
I love me some Ellen Page, Allison Janey and J.K. Simmons though. And I do want to watch the film with my wife who I think will get a real kick out of the film (and not have the petty problems that plague me when I watch films like this!)
I just saw this and I think Kurt’s GHOST WORLD comparison was dead on. Not so much for the plot similarities (which for their) but because the movies share the same pretentious sense of humor. Every line reading was “no no, I’m much more ironic than you home skillet. Fo’ shizzle”. It annoys the fuck out of me.
Also, the sound track was way too much. Moldy Peaches is good moment music. In Juno the moment was the whole damn movie. It was at odds with the character who was constantly talking about Punk Rock but then the soundtrack is wall to wall charming little ditties. I make an exception for the opening title music which was great.
A mixed bag, I thought it was more successful as a drama.
And the shaded-graphics of the opening credits (awesome!), the Season Structure and many of the other director choices are pretty good.
P.T. Anderson has a better grasp of how to lightly use something like Shelley Duval singing as Olive Oyl or cutesy Velvet Underground numbers in Punch Drunk Love. Which is a far better film than JUNO.
I agree about Ellen Page, Allison Janey and J.K. Simmons (he’s been great for years) and I’ll even raise you Jason Bateman and Jenny Garner grew on me and I never like her because I’m prejudiced against people with big faces. I warmed up to this movie while I was watching it but it’s got some cringe inducing moments.
Quite possibly my favorite paragraph in an Andrew James review thus far.
“The problem in my bitter experience is the unbearable dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, it’s incredibly cute and full of charm. That doesn’t make it completely tolerable. In fact, too much cuteness makes me want to puke. A little bunny is cute. A little girl holding a bunny is even cuter. Add some balloons and a milk mustache and we’re bordering on excessive. Add a springer spaniel puppy tugging at the hem of her dress and we’ve got a full blown disaster of an image. Now I’m not calling Juno a disaster – not by any stretch of the imagination does it come close to being a disaster. But is it a bit pretentious and unbelievable? Like, yeah, it totally is home-skillet.”
Well Done Sir!
I think I prefer Saved.
Saved! is another one of those films that many of my film-consuming friends have tried to get me to watch (And I’m a huge Jenna Malone fan, I’ve just not made it around to that one yet. The phrase “Easy Target” always sprung to mind when I thought of that films concept.
Funny, I was listening to an interview with screenwriter Diablo Cody and Ellen Page and they BOTH mentioned Ghost World as influences.
Sounds like Kurt and I are on EXACTLY the same page about this film. His first comment sums up my feeling on the film to a tee.
And Rusty, like I toootally forgot to mention the soundtrack dude. It drove me nuts. It was trying so hard to be hip and… I don’t know, cute and independent? Lame.
~ For Your Consideration ~
~ Jonny Greenwood (There Will Be Blood) ~
BEST SCORE
I actually liked the soundtrack, I just have to acknowledge that the guy who does the music work for P.T. Anderson’s films , particularly PUNCH DRUNK LOVE which plays in the same ball park at times to JUNO, does a better job.
Or maybe I just like to hear Shelly Duvall sing. Dunno.
i’ll take my time in seeing Juno. i loved Thank You For Smoking, but i definitely got that self aware “smug” vibe from the trailer.
and kurt, Saved! (i hate typing that infernal exclamation mark after the title) wasn’t awesome in the artistic sense, but it was a pretty sharp little satire. don’t jack your expectations too high, but if you like a good satirical piece, Saved! should do it for you.
Great review Andrew! I agree completely. While I loved Juno at TIFF, it wasn’t as good when I saw it this weekend. I think it was because at TIFF I was seeing 2-3 movies a day, and anything that was able to hold my attention was AWESOME! Also, we’re surrounded by quirkiness at the fest, so this could have been tame but some of the other stuff I saw. Now the dialogue really sticks out when you’re surrounded by real life. Question: you mentioned Page is upstaged only twice in the movie. Once by Jen in the mall, when is the other time?
The other is almost anytime Allison Janney is on screen, but specifically in the doctor’s office talking to the ultra-sound technician.
~ For Your Consideration ~
~ Amy Adams ~
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
as Mark Kermode puts it ‘quirksome to the point of irksome’?
I enjoyed Juno a lot although I think a lot of that has to do with Ellen Page. I was mildly annoyed by the soundtrack because I’m sorry, ‘I’m Sticking with you’ has been done, and the overt alternative tracks left me wishing for a Wes Anderson sensitivity to good music. Although the Carpenter’s cover by Sonic Youth was a great touch (I own that album!).
a film is not real life, I do not mind an amplification of wit in the dialogue, I have no real issue with quirkiness… certainly there is a threshold… compare this to any episode of Gilmore Girls and one can realize the sort of restraint that Juno actually has.
And I do not know how other people behave but I make up words all the time, and with those closest to me language becomes some fluid thing, occassionaly with pop references sprinkled amongst, but often just playing with words on a purely formal level. Not quite to the rehearsed degree it is done in Juno, but I can excuse a portion of it as something like I am familiar with.
ultimately I found Juno funny, and if we are to make the comparison with Little Miss Sunshine, I found it much more enjoyable.
I wasn’t a huge fan of “Little Miss Sunshine” last year and as much as I enjoyed “Juno”, I’m on the same boat with everyone else, it’s a bit too over the top. That said, Ellen Page still deserves all the love coming her way and I’d love to see this get loads of attention so people will wonder who the hell this girl is, where she came from and then go back and watch some of her earlier work.
I’m on a mission to get everyone to watch “Hard Candy”. God damned it, I WILL succeed! *evil laugh*
I’m not sure I can articulate why, but for me Juno hit all the right buttons. And I *LOVED* the dialog, and didn’t find it overly cute. Unrealistic, sure. But this is art, and you can make the same comment about almost any film that isn’t a documentary. Something about the turn of phrase was wonderful to listen to. I can only hope there’s enough other people like me so more films like this can get made!
The weakest link of the film for me was Michael Cera’s character. I didn’t get the chemistry between Pauly and Juno. (Total aside, hopefully one day someone will give Cera a new role to play before he’s stereotyped.)
I’m not sure I’ll have any cred after my preceding comment
, but I agree with Marina, “Hard Candy” is an amazing film.
And my powers of persuasion continue!
I loved Juno, and unlike the majority of people commenting on it, I didn’t find the dialog all that far fetched. The people I associated with in Jr and High school, did have a tendency to be bordering on undecipherable at times. The cliques existed in my schools, but for the most part, there was a tremendous amount of bleed over. Hell, If I had a found a living room set and a Mershon Pipe, damn straight I would have dragged it over to my friends house, and waited for him before school.
@ Andrew James… Its interesting you got alot out of the location shots in your area, because I also was very excited to see alot of stuff from my neck of the woods. There is a shot of a Honey & Milk store in Juno, that I spent way too much money on slushies as a teen.
@ Dale… Hurrah, you finally watched Hard Candy. That film rocks, although I was very angry watching the first 15 minutes of the film.
Finally got my review up, and I’m happy to say Juno sucked.
For that matter Hard Candy sucked too. Well, the second and third acts anyway.
Loved Hard Candy and Juno does not “suck”, it is just over rated.
SUCKED!
I have to say. I liked it on the way out but every day the good parts seem further away and the annoying parts linger.
Andrew, what you said about your audience laughing at every annoying line. My audience did that too. Fuck them!
Did anyone else read Mr. Jeremy Smith’s article about pop music in film. That article, though it never mentions it specifically, is an inditement of Juno. Down with Juno.
~ For Your Consideration ~
~ Juno ~
BAD MOVIE
~ For Your Consideration ~
~ Juno ~
BAD MOVIE
You guys are funny. Oi! Juno Backlash!
soon there will be a backlash against the backlash!
You predicted right Kurt… I still think it is damn funny and enjoyable.
Regardless, I still have a feeling I’m going to enjoy the shit out of this movie, because:
a) Michael Cera is awesome.
b) Jason Bateman is awesome.
c) Ellen Page is awesome.
d) JK Simmons is awesome.
You know rot, I agree with … it being damn funny and enjoyable. I do.
I am… horrified… to report that I didn’t care much for Juno. Yes, count me among those that felt that these people were just spitting out screenplay at the expense of authenticity. Jokes more important than seeming REAL, to the point that well – Knocked Up seemed more real in comparison. It just felt pretty damn phony so much of the time…
I think I am most horrified to finally admit that I think I don’t like Ellen Page. Besides the fact that Juno’s character is obnoxious and uber-hipstery, and has to be so sharp all the time that she never has a somber ‘normal’ moment to make me relate to her/understand her… Ellen Page’s style itself reflects this – from both this and Hard Candy – I don’t care for the way she acts. In both of these films she plays way too smart to be believable, ultimately a smart kid (Page) playing a smart kid but neglecting an actual SOUL or true vulnerability. She’s off-putting. She spits out dialogue in a way that reminds me of Dawson’s Creek or Gilmore Girls at their worst. If it were in Clerks I’d forgive it because the whole world in that movie in which people speak is ridiculous, but her style in a movie where everyone else is normal…
GOD DAMN, I mean I can’t stand it, and think praise of her performance is extremely overrated. She’s so much more likely to get an Oscar nomination for this comedy performance than say, Amy Adams – who is in a role that requires SO much more work, and actual ACTING.
Preach it Goon! Don’t continue to live in fear of persecution by the masses anymore.
You know, if there’s one thing I can’t stand, its “ironic detachment” used poorly. If the world they’re in could never exist, like in “Stella”, I can live with it.
But people like Page, really annoy me in this regard. You can look at them and see them making facial expressions, showing comedic timing, intonation, all these ELEMENTS of a good performance, but there’s nothing underneath. I can SEE the ACTING way too much. I can see the rehearsal of lines, I can see her holding cue cards looking in a mirror practising. I don’t believe for one second Page is really FEELING the character so much as presenting a mathematical calculation of how the lines should be delivered.
I feel the same way about many of Johnny Depp’s performances. And yet in the case of Page and Depp, most people find them uber hip and awesome.
Now, thats the high end of ‘ironic detachment’ used badly. The low end… just look at most of Canadian TV. Even in actual COMEDIES like Corner Gas and Trailer Park Boys, on Canadian TV I find the majority of people never dive into their characters whatsoever. They wink at me without winking, they beat me over the head through the screen:
“HEY, IM ACTING. THIS IS FUNNY, RIGHT? YOU REALIZE IM NOT REALLY RACIST AND/OR STUPID? ITS OKAY, YOU CAN LAUGH AT THIS”
I can look at a “dumb” comedy like any of Will Ferrell’s work, and whether its overall good or bad, regardless of how ridiculous the character is, he’s FEELING IT. Amy Adams in “Enchanted” is going to be considered by most to be a ‘slight’ performance because in the end its a Disney princess movie, but she’s FEELING IT. That performance is going to be snubbed, and this performance in Juno is going to be recognized. “You’re a naturally snarky brat who doesn’t need to act, and we think its funny. First Prize!”
Goon. Seek out THE TRACEY FRAGMENTS. There is a much more honest (and less self-gratifying) performance from Page in there. She is the real deal.
she’s 20 and I know in the Tracey Fragments she’s playing a 15 year old. I may give it a chance because its Bruce McDonald, but I am not hoping for much – she’s playing teens because she looks like one, but she hasnt proven to me whatsoever she’s capable of playing a REAL teen.
Lets take it back to Ghost World again. Are those characters in many ways smarter than their peers? Yes. But they’re like, 18, and they have their quirky interests, but they’re passionate about them because they’re new to them, and it shows that they’re just discovering things and need older people to reveal them to them. Juno seems to have more life experience and music/movie knowledge than even Cameron Crowe’s avatar in “Almost Famous”. But she doesnt show much passion about it, she actually treats art like Lester Bangs would – world weary, overly familiar and can just spit words about it at length off the top of his head. its just ridiculous. Over at Film Junk there was this ‘ugh’ at the idea of her talking about Suspiria, and I defended it. Teens run into bizarre obscure stuff more frequently then we think : but they don’t have Juno’s attitude about it. Just one of a zillion fraudulent aspects of Cody’s writing thrust upon these characters.
I found this interesting comment on another message board I wanted to share:
“As soon as I heard a character say “honest to blog,” I knew I was in for trouble.
I agree with everyone who’s saying that the film laid on the indie cliches a bit too heavily. So many of the “cute touches” just came off as completely insincere and manufactured specifically to come off as quirky and unique; Juno carrying a pipe around, the lone Asian girl protesting in front of the clinic, etc. In addition, the soundtrack really needed some variety. I can handle one pseudo-folk/indie track with light vocals, but please, shake it up a little bit.
But I would have been able to tolerate all of that if it weren’t for the character of Juno. She was completely unbelievable in her pithiness and wit, and I hated her. Yes, I understand that 16 year olds are generally very cocky and self-important; hell, I remember when I was like that. However, that doesn’t help reconcile the fact that nobody on the goddamned planet talks the way Juno does, let alone a 16 year old girl. It’s not that she thinks she’s more clever than she is; it’s that every line of dialogue she has is a loving punchline. And not even a punchline that sounds off the cuff or spontaneous; they all come off as carefully planned and preconceived. I like witty characters, but she sounded much more like a screenwriter being clever than an actual human being.
In addition, I had absolutely no reason to sympathize with her, as there was (up until the last twenty minutes or so) no heart to the character. Think about it. Everything she does is selfish, more or less; there aren’t really any moments where she’s shown to care for anybody but herself. She’s horrible to Bleeker, which really got on my nerves. The clincher was when she blew up at him in the hallway. I’ve been treated like that by girls before, and that just made me hate her character so much, for her to be so vile to someone, with no regard for their feelings. Oddly enough, that was probably the only scene where I actually believed that her character could exist in the real world. Was it realistic that a 16 year old girl would act that way? Yes. But it also made me hate her with every ounce of my being, and would have undone any sympathy I’d had for her, if the movie had given me any reason to sympathize with her to begin with.
Then, she suddenly decides that she’s in love with Bleeker , which was not set up nearly enough to come off as realistic. Some will argue that her blowing up at him in the halls sets up her feelings for him, but I really don’t think that’s sufficient. The moments in which Juno appears to be endeared by something Bleeker does are far, far too few. Her confessing her feelings for him seemed like something that happened only because the screenplay required it to.
Look, I don’t have to love my movie protagonists. There Will Be Blood had a protagonist who was a despicable, utterly reprehensible person, and yet I loved it, because Daniel Day-Lewis gave him a certain charm. Despite how awful he was, I couldn’t help but enjoy watching him on screen. Or, to use an example closer in tone to Juno, take Rushmore. Max, like Juno, thinks that he’s way more mature than he is, and isn’t really all that great of a person. But it’s amusing to watch his ineptitude, and the movie is very much on the side of the audience; Wes Anderson wants us to laugh at his protagonist, not with him. With Juno, it’s the opposite (at least, in my experience in watching it). We’re supposed to be endeared to her, at least on some level, but watching her on screen was so unpleasant that I was not endeared in the slightest, and continuing to watch her became a chore.
The unfortunate thing is that, other than the character of Juno, the movie was great. All the other performances were really good, there was depth to all of the supporting characters (except for Bleeker, but he was given such little screen time that it didn’t matter too much), and I enjoyed the way the story line played out. It’s just that the movie is so centered on Juno that if you don’t like watching that character, it’s really hard to like the movie.
I think I can sum up my feelings on Juno the same way I sum up my feelings on Hard Candy: there were good parts, there were bad parts, but the movie was ruined by the fact that I didn’t believe for a second that anyone would actually say a goddamned thing that came out of Ellen Paige’s mouth.”
I haven’t seen Juno yet so I can’t really comment but I’m curious where your found that post Goon. I’d like to read a bit more of the stuff they write about movies and other things.
Its from somethingawful.com – they have one of the largest forums on the internet. you have to pay to register on their forums but you can read them. its in the ‘cinema discusso’ section.
Thanks, Andrew James, for this major contribution to the “Juno backlash” topic–and that’s a very well-written review. I don’t think the film’s cleverness is quite as objectionable as you do, but it’s also not as profound and wonderful as others have been insisting so your points are well taken. As for those who link this movie with “Little Miss Sunshine,” I don’t think the latter would be worth this much effort to discuss. And archly clever unrealistic dialog is nothing new in (good) teen comedies–take “Heathers,” for instance. But the thouble is as you point out that unlike “Heathers,” “Juno” takes on a serious, realistic subject.
Good call on HEATHERS. nice.
More with the Juno Backlash – The Chicago Sun Times pop-music critic (who writes for the same paper that the chief movie critic awarded Juno with his Best film of the year…that’d be Mr. Ebert…)
For you reading pleasure: Click Here
More with the Juno Backlash – The Chicago Sun Times pop-music critic (who writes for the same paper that the chief movie critic awarded Juno with his Best film of the year…that’d be Mr. Ebert…)
For your reading pleasure: Click Here
The backlash has actually won me over a fair amount. I keep meaning to see it but just keep putting it off and I don’t have a real reason for putting it off. I should see it just to make sure the theatres know that I want more indie films to show up here.
The more I think and discuss, the more this film leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I love how this critic compares the film to Knocked-Up on the comedy front and Waitress more on the drama side of things. As mediocre as Waitress is, I’m starting to wonder if I actually like it more.
NO Juno at the GG. Ha! Take that, main stream, wanna-be indie lovers!
Say what ever you like, I still very much enjoyed the film. The one huge plus side for the film is that Paul Giamatti isn’t in it!
After everything I read these days, including how I personally feel and have talked about the film (cinecasts, recommendations, etc), I did actually enjoy it too. It was one of those weird flicks that I watched it, enjoyed it, and then clearly saw many the reasons not to like it. (The cast go a long way to making this likeable, in the same way that the cast for Little Miss Sunshine did, and the Cast for THe Full Monty, and Saving Grace – this is an entire subgenre of quirky-hyper-unrealistic-indie-dramedy pioneered by Fox Searchlight)
Ultimately it comes down to the fact that I thought GHOSTWORLD did more or less the same thing much better.
“No one in real life talks likes this or behaves this way. At least not so fluently.”
Man, hearing all of this stuff about the dialogue, I was expecting the worst, expecting something that sounded REALLY forced and trying to be cooler than it really was. But seriously, maybe because I’m only twenty-one and high school wasn’t that long ago for me, but the dialogue wasn’t really that unbelievable. I’m not saying everyone in high school talks like that, because they don’t, but I’ve met plenty of people over the years that do.
And obviously I can’t say anybody I know spits those kinds of words so fluently and with so little thought, but you can say that about dialogue in almost every movie. People generally can’t think fast enough, can’t put sentences together as perfectly, can’t talk with saying “like” and “uh,” can’t say really cool one-liners at the perfect moment – but that happens in nearly every movie.
I guess what I’m trying to say is yeah, the dialogue and behavior of some of the character aren’t entirely realistic, the whole suspension of disbelief will come into play here, but I didn’t feel like it was too forced or trying too hard to be “hip.” It’s a solid movie, with a few problems, sure, but it’s definitely a great movie for a guy to take a girl to, one they can both enjoy equally. I’d have to think about it, but it’d sit somewhere around an 8/10 from me, I think.
I’ve come back around on this one a little bit. I still don’t love it but I think as drama if not a comedy it’s fairly successful.
One of the things that quelled my hate on for this flick was the article Kurt linked to above.
First he scolds the film for laughing at teen pregnancy and suicide. And then is shocked (shocked!) that he’s supposed to believe a teenage girl would ever have sex without using birth control. Clearly that is just beyond belief.
Worst of all he invalidates his opinion by revealing his smug and sanctimonious abortion political agenda that is absolutely irrelevant to the merits of the film.
I think he made a few decent points, especially calling the film out for paying lip service to punk.
It’s funny, when a film gets as much press and buzz as Juno it’s difficult to keep a level head on the matter.
If Edgar Wright can faux-interview and rip on the Superbad guys, then a bunch of middle-school kids can take a piece out of Juno director, Jason Reitman. Good delivery by the kids.
Courtesy the nice folks over at Filmjunk.
these fake interview things are funny for this sort of thing above…
but on DVDs, Im starting to hate the fake ironic featurettes and commentaries… on most comedy movies, like on the Blades of Glory DVD, they have the actors talk about the process and each other like they’re in a Christopher Guest movie, and 9/10 times it really falls completely flat.
the Michael Cera in Knocked Up one is the best one I’ve seen to date. This one above…. eh… not bad, not great.
Ha. Ha. The JUNO Backlash-BACKLASH (predicted here before the movie even went wide release waaay back in December, see comment #24) actually gets some copy:
http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/movies/16004372.html
I feel sea-sick.
It’s the movie that will totally be forgotten in 2 years.
Kurt, backlash backlash was all the rage in aught seven. That’s a lame prediction.
Andrew, is there any way to make the Lost thread featured up top or do we have to dig it up again?
Here it is: THREAD. But in the future, you’ll have to dig each time. Once you comment, it will go to the top again in the recent comment sections
hey that article makes reference to the SomethingAwful article I linked to before
anyways heres the Jackie Clarke video mentioned in the same article.
http://jackieclarke.blogspot.com/
btw, this will surely add fire to the backlash:
HERE
fire. Fire! FIRE!! heh heh yeah. FIRE.
I prefer Caribou for the corporate coffee rip-off stores.
Oh dear god. The next thing you know we’re going to be buying sex toys at Starbucks too!
Perhaps if Cody wasn’t coked out of her mind for the past year she’d remember designing those ridiculous shoes.
Juno Makes Angela Chase Look Like Sartre:
A few days late but I completely agree. Thanks to Spout Blog for the heads up.
ZING!
Brian C. Gibson’s honest look at Juno:
http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/officially-cool/officially-cool-an-honest-look-at-juno.php