Juno (2007)

I now want a hamburger phone.

Last year, I kept hearing about this movie but I had no idea what it was about. Maybe about Alaska? I don't know. But once I saw the trailer, I knew I had to see it. This movie did not disappoint. It was touching, funny, and had just a hint of romance. I laughed and I'll admit that I cried.

Ellen Page and Michael Cera are a believable couple. Absolutely adorable and hilarious together. They're both brilliant actors and I can't wait to see more from the both of them. November 29, 2008

Better than a TV movie

My husband and I rented this on a rainey Saturday night, not expection that great of a film, but my daughter gave it such great reviews. I have to say that Ellen Page is the actress that made this film better than a TV movie. She played the part of JUNO like she actually lived it in reality. The ending is unexpectably sad. Good performance from Jason Bateman. Jennifer Garner played the part of the lame and pathetic wife of Bateman who in the end loses her husband to get the one thing she has always wanted in her marriage a child. Rent it it is not bad for not quite a two hour time. The writing is the real winner in this movie. November 27, 2008

I applaud Ellen Page's performance and just want to keep applauding.

I've been meaning to see this 2007 award-winning film for a long time. I'm glad I finally did.

This is a comedy but it is more than that. It is a heartwarming story of an off-beat and lovable 16-year old girl who becomes pregnant. She is exceptionally wise and savvy with one of the most lovable personalities I have ever seen on the scene. Ellen Page is cast in this role and is absolutely perfect for the part. I don't think any other actor could have done as well. I applaud her performance and want to just keep applauding.

The screenplay is wonderful too and a great vehicle to showcase her acting. It is heartwarming and not maudlin as we share her experiences with her understanding family and the prospective adoptive parents who she interviews and bonds with. There is also good upbeat music throughout which supports the theme of the story.

Yes, there are a few bumps along the way. Her boyfriend invites a different girl to the prom. The prospective adoptive father becomes enamored with Juno romantically. She has to deal with her own bulging body and the stares of her classmates. And there are times that her situation seems too much of a burden for her.

This is a really fine film and I highly recommend it for everyone. Enjoy!
November 23, 2008

Original, brilliantly written film ... with a couple of flaws

Overall, this is a great film. It's fresh, well-written, surprising, and just the sort of "small film" that is so difficult to get right. Most films that take this sort of honest evaluation of typical middle-class life in the contemporary United States end up being unwatchabley pretentious or stridently political. Juno is neither. Rather than continue to sing its praises - which has been well done in earlier reviews - I wanted to note a couple of flaws that kept this from being a five-star film for me. First, while I love Ellen Page and her performance makes the film, she seemed too old for the part. Looking up her bio, she is currently 21, which would have made her about 19 when Juno was filmed. The character is supposed to be 16, which is a crucial plot point. A key to the film is that Juno is precocious and very young - not just a high schooler, but a young high schooler. In watching the film, I didn't buy for a minute that Ellen Page was 16; if anything I thought she was in her early 20s, or older than she actually was. I'm sure the producers tried to find someone the correct age and were willing to tradeoff Page's brilliant performance for her being too old, but, unfortunately, this lessened the impact of the film for me.

Second, [SPOILER ALERT] I thought the only real false note in the film was the ending. I can certainly buy the idea that Juno is willing to give up the baby to the Jennifer Garner character because Juno believes that character will be a good mother to the child, despite her divorce. But it just seems very unlikely to me that someone as sensitive and self-aware as Juno is would be so blasé about the decision - unwilling to even look at the baby in the nursery before Jennifer Garner takes him away. This seemed particularly implausible after the film has brought Juno and her boyfriend back together and shown that she has hopes of a long-time relationship with him. In those circumstances, not to even discuss keeping the baby? Seems unlikely.

Overall, though, this film is a must see and worthy of the acclaim it has received.
November 23, 2008

Remarkably Well-Written and Warm Comedy

I wanted to hate Juno so bad. I suppose all of the trendy dialogue and often unnecessary indie credibility made me want to target this as among the most overrated films of 2007. In retrospect I hate when I have preconceptions going into a film but at least here I can admit its impact. Juno isn't overrated at all and although the dialogue is still hard to believe in flashes; the characters were compelling, enjoyable, and very easy to like. It was a simple task to forgive the few flaws I expected to find.

The film is directed by Jason Reitman (Thank You for Smoking), the son of director Ivan Reitman (Ghostbusters). It is written by Diablo Cody, a known blogger who won the Academy Award for Best Screenplay for Juno. The film's cast is actually very deep for its modest budget of $7 million dollars. The cast includes Ellen Page in the title role, Michael Cera as her quasi-boyfriend and father-to-be, Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner as the would-be adoptive parents of Juno's daughter, and J.K. Simmons as Juno's father, among others. It always surprises me when J.K. Simmons appears in a role as a nice guy after seeing him play an imprisoned Aryan gang leader for years on Oz and the fiery J. Jonah Jameson in the Spider-Man movies. He is always an outstanding supporting actor.

Juno follows a young girl named Juno MacGuff (Page) who discovers she is pregnant. The film looks the issue of abortion right in the face, for better or worse, seemingly indifferent to the views of either side, and eventually Juno decides she will have the child and put it up for adoption. Mark and Vanessa Loring (Bateman and Garner) are a married thirty-something couple that want to adopt the child. Juno's interactions with both Mark and Vanessa are engaging and surprisingly fresh. The supporting characters are very strong and make the main characters even more enjoyable to watch.

The strength of Juno's character seems to be one of the film's contentious points. Everyone seems to agree that Page is amazing in the role, and she is, but the way the character is written was something I expected to tackle as a flaw. It isn't at all; she is a powerful, intelligent, and confident young woman who I found not only believable but completely original. But there are many reasons to recommend Juno. It's well-written, it contains some great performances, and it has a soundtrack and style I appreciated very much. November 21, 2008

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