Juno? No, ju?
I saw Juno tonight. It was cute, and I laughed. I was miffed that the use of "Anybody Else but You" at the end omitted several verses, but whatevs. The rest of this review will be under a cut because some people yell at me for giving spoilers when I'm not actually spoiling anything. I think some people just want to give me crap at any possible opportunity.
So. It was visually good. The sight gags were good. It had the sort of quirk that makes the indie kids smile, though I have to say that using Kimya Dawson's music in a movie where the characters listen to either the Stooges or grunge was a little odd to me. Loved the music otherwise, though.
Ellen Page was decent. I enjoyed Allison Janney's role, though her big scene with the ultrasound technician was such a fake. Michael Cera was great but underused. That kid has such great facial expressions. He is getting typecasted, though. Let's find him a script that doesn't have him playing the awkward, geeky teenager who doesn't know how to talk to people and see how he does.
The script wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. The dialog was way forced and unnaturally witty. I've heard worse, though, and the actors delivered them as well as one could expect, all considering. Rex was less generous and thought it was quite forced. There were definitely some good lines in there, though, and I laughed more than some of the others in the audience (note: the audience SUUUCKED). It was just trying too hard. It's like it was trying to be Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums without that level of overboard quirk/obvious stylization that makes it absurd. This one wasn't trying to go for suspension of disbelief, though, so it just felt awkward at times.
Also, I think it almost completely ignored the topic of teen pregnancy. Imagine if Juno were just a kid who knew this couple trying to have a baby. Very little of the story would change. It made teen pregnancy seem like not such a big thing. Like, oh wow, your parents are going to be a little frustrated and people are gonna stare a little, but other than that, it's not so bad. You can just roll with it, have a few good pregnancy sight gags, and then bounce back easily. No biggie! Now, I will be the first (okay, may be the second...or fifth) to champion the underdog opinion because that's what I do sometimes as a writer (hi, I'm the chick who got shit on by female writing classmates for making a protagonist out of a guy who raped a girl). BUT if you're going to step around the hard parts of teen pregnancy, the rest of the movie's plot has to be solid. But it wasn't.
The character arc was a generous so-so (I'd even venture to say virtually nonexistent, actually), and I really don't think Juno truly learned anything in the end, partially because it wasn't set up for her to learn quite enough. If she really wanted to find a couple who had it all and would be together forever and whatnot, then she should have been showing that during her interactions with Jason Bateman's character more. I think the problem is that the levels of attachment Juno had with the other characters were just sketchy. The attachment to Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner's characters were a little odd, and the reasons for her feelings and treatment of Michael Cera's character were not as fleshed out as I would have liked. The movie basically worked on broad strokes-- ideas, not details, and character stereotypes-- which I find a bit lazy. These were characters who could've easily have become deeper and fantastic with just one or two extra scenes that wouldn't have sacrificed style or humor, but they were just not there. She was just a kid when it started, and she was just a kid when it ended. Big deal.
So yes...entertaining movie but overrated. Good acting, good music. Lazy storytelling. Style over substance. (Huh. This is essentially what I thought of Lost in Translation, though in that movie, I could only really compliment Bill Murray, as far as acting goes.)
So. It was visually good. The sight gags were good. It had the sort of quirk that makes the indie kids smile, though I have to say that using Kimya Dawson's music in a movie where the characters listen to either the Stooges or grunge was a little odd to me. Loved the music otherwise, though.
Ellen Page was decent. I enjoyed Allison Janney's role, though her big scene with the ultrasound technician was such a fake. Michael Cera was great but underused. That kid has such great facial expressions. He is getting typecasted, though. Let's find him a script that doesn't have him playing the awkward, geeky teenager who doesn't know how to talk to people and see how he does.
The script wasn't as good as I thought it was going to be. The dialog was way forced and unnaturally witty. I've heard worse, though, and the actors delivered them as well as one could expect, all considering. Rex was less generous and thought it was quite forced. There were definitely some good lines in there, though, and I laughed more than some of the others in the audience (note: the audience SUUUCKED). It was just trying too hard. It's like it was trying to be Rushmore or The Royal Tenenbaums without that level of overboard quirk/obvious stylization that makes it absurd. This one wasn't trying to go for suspension of disbelief, though, so it just felt awkward at times.
Also, I think it almost completely ignored the topic of teen pregnancy. Imagine if Juno were just a kid who knew this couple trying to have a baby. Very little of the story would change. It made teen pregnancy seem like not such a big thing. Like, oh wow, your parents are going to be a little frustrated and people are gonna stare a little, but other than that, it's not so bad. You can just roll with it, have a few good pregnancy sight gags, and then bounce back easily. No biggie! Now, I will be the first (okay, may be the second...or fifth) to champion the underdog opinion because that's what I do sometimes as a writer (hi, I'm the chick who got shit on by female writing classmates for making a protagonist out of a guy who raped a girl). BUT if you're going to step around the hard parts of teen pregnancy, the rest of the movie's plot has to be solid. But it wasn't.
The character arc was a generous so-so (I'd even venture to say virtually nonexistent, actually), and I really don't think Juno truly learned anything in the end, partially because it wasn't set up for her to learn quite enough. If she really wanted to find a couple who had it all and would be together forever and whatnot, then she should have been showing that during her interactions with Jason Bateman's character more. I think the problem is that the levels of attachment Juno had with the other characters were just sketchy. The attachment to Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner's characters were a little odd, and the reasons for her feelings and treatment of Michael Cera's character were not as fleshed out as I would have liked. The movie basically worked on broad strokes-- ideas, not details, and character stereotypes-- which I find a bit lazy. These were characters who could've easily have become deeper and fantastic with just one or two extra scenes that wouldn't have sacrificed style or humor, but they were just not there. She was just a kid when it started, and she was just a kid when it ended. Big deal.
So yes...entertaining movie but overrated. Good acting, good music. Lazy storytelling. Style over substance. (Huh. This is essentially what I thought of Lost in Translation, though in that movie, I could only really compliment Bill Murray, as far as acting goes.)