Sometimes I read the buzz that heaps all sorts of praise and hype on a movie before it gets released. I build up all sorts of anticipation until its premiere, but then come out of the theater feeling mighty disappointed. Juno, the sophmore effort by young director Jason Reitman, was one such film. Yet instead of coming out feeling like I didn't quite get my money's worth, I walked out with a smile on my face and a warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment.
Juno (Ellen Page) is a wise-cracking teenage girl, although probably not quite as wise as she thinks, who gets pregnant after a spontaneous fling with her friend Paulie (Michael Cera). Perhaps too disgusted by the mediocrity of the abortion clinic yet fully aware that she's in no position to raise a baby, she finds the seemingly perfect surbabanite couple (Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner) to adopt her unborn child.
I'm not sure what's up with the theme of pregnant single women this year (Knocked Up, Waitress), but Juno is probably the best of the three. My wife called this a cross between a couple of lower budget non-mainstream movies of late. I guess I can see that. Juno is a bit quirky and cool in that "it's so nerdy it's hip" kind of way in the vein of Napolean Dynamite and still manages to throw in a heartwarming story like Little Miss Sunshine. It isn't much of a stretch to think that yellow running shorts and wristbands will be the cool costume for this year and orange Tic-Tacs will be the quirky romantic gift come Valentine's Day. Yet I think it would sell this movie short to call it a hybrid of those two films, as if this followed some formula. The movie almost falls over on itself in the opening scenes only because the dialogue threatens to be too cool to be taken seriously. Yet somehow, the story manages to let up from this crutch and turns into a funny and charming story about growing up and teenage love.
1 comment:
This excites me. I was thinking this would be a good movie. I will have to set a night for me and my wife to go see it.
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