Juno (2007)

Honestly, who other than Michael Cera would want to knock this chick up??

Facing an unplanned pregnancy while she’s still in high school, quirky teen Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) devises a plan to locate her unborn baby’s perfect adoptive parents. But the seemingly ideal couple (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner) Juno chooses still has some growing up to do.

I mean I have gotten so much buzz about this movie, and how I need to see it. Now that I finally have I can actually wonder what all this freaking’ buzz is about?

The one thing about this film that highly attracted me is the dynamically written screenplay by Diablo Cody. There is a lot of wit, and this type of slang involved with the speaking, but it is also real. I know a lot of teens who talk exactly like this in any situation, not just being pregnant, and Cody totally empowers that talk.

This film, while undoubtedly full of clever lines, is ultimately too aware of its own quirkiness, much like the main character. For example, Juno’s cheeseburger phone would have been much funnier if she didn’t say something like, “Oh, hang on, I’m talking on my cheeseburger phone.” This movie suffers for its utter lack of subtlety. I loved Max Fischer in Rushmore because he was a freak of sorts, sure, but you won’t hear him say things like “Oh, excuse me, I have to adjust my giant red beret” as he tries to talk up Miss Cross. I kind of found the hipster language to kind of get annoying a little bit mostly cause none of these people at all spoke normal, just used all this slang and it kind of got annoying.

I will praise Jason Reitman’s direction mostly because every single part of feels inspired. There are parts in this that are quite hilarious, then there are parts that are emotionally dramatic, and each scene works. He balances a fine line between comedy and drama, so it doesn’t become a mess. At times, its hearty and warm, other times its brutally honest, which I can totally praise.

The best thing of this film is its characters and performances that almost seem to real. Ellen Page was a little annoying, but despite that gives a great lead performance. You believe her as this quirky hipster character, but also as this immature young girl who is still finding the meaning to her life through this pregnancy. Almost everyone does a great job in this film, Cera is funny as usually with his nerd act, the scenes with J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney are heartwarming at its most, and Bateman and Garner give great looks of people that we all know and don’t quite connect with.

Consensus: Though its quirkiness kind of gets the better of itself, Juno offers a funny and honest look at the world of teenage pregnancy, with heart-warming performances, and a very well-written and clever script.

8.5/10=Matinee!!!

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