The Justin Alt Film Review - Juno
Juno
Rated PG-13
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
Directed by: Jason Reitman (son of Ivan), who also directed Thank You For Smoking.
What happens when you combine the dismal subject matter of teen pregnancy with the quirky film-making sensibilities of Wes Anderson? If you've caught just even a glimpse of the trailer for Juno, you know what I'm talking about.
The only problem is, this is "A Jason Reitman Film" according to the movie poster. Tricks obviously lifted from the Wes Anderson playbook: tableau shots, sweatbands and track suits ala The Royal Tennenbaums, music by The Kinks, and a score shamefully sampling from Mark Mothersbaugh's keyboard. I'm not saying that these style choices are the trademarked property of Wes Anderson, I'm just saying using all of them in the same movie is more or less plagiarism of his style.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest.
Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, the smartest pregnant sixteen-year-old girl ever. Her precocious and cynical personality (and hip teen-speak dialogue) bothered the hell out of me at first, but made for an excellent contrast to the girl she must become to face the harsh reality of her situation later on in the film. There's nothing better than a character who actually has a turn, a change in themselves through the course of a story. This is something that Wes Anderson should maybe focus more attention to in some of his characters!
The supporting cast is great. Michael Cera as Juno's less mature, less articulate, baby daddy, is the first representation of a high schooler that I've seen on film in forever that reminds of, get this, a real high schooler! Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the Yupple (Yuppie Couple) that desperately want a child of their own and are ready to adopt the Juno baby. Garner's character almost pulls us into Lifetime Land, but Juno won't let her, taking the gravitas out of the whole adoption thing. Jason Bateman plays the husby in his mid-thirties who is ready(?) to trade in his personal hopes and dreams to start a family, a theme that stares me in the face more and more each day. Yikes.
On a side note, and I may be the coolest audience member in the world if no one else picked up on this, but Juno's last name is MacGuff. The object of desire in any film that motivates the characters is referred to as "the MacGuffin". The object that motivates Juno, the object of desire for the Garner/Bateman couple, the baby, is literally IN MacGuff! MacGuffin.
I give this movie a "Must see it on, like, a chilled out Saturday afternoon with like, some friends. Or whatever."
Justin had fun writing this at 12:31 AM
Rated PG-13
Starring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jason Bateman, Jennifer Garner
Directed by: Jason Reitman (son of Ivan), who also directed Thank You For Smoking.
What happens when you combine the dismal subject matter of teen pregnancy with the quirky film-making sensibilities of Wes Anderson? If you've caught just even a glimpse of the trailer for Juno, you know what I'm talking about.The only problem is, this is "A Jason Reitman Film" according to the movie poster. Tricks obviously lifted from the Wes Anderson playbook: tableau shots, sweatbands and track suits ala The Royal Tennenbaums, music by The Kinks, and a score shamefully sampling from Mark Mothersbaugh's keyboard. I'm not saying that these style choices are the trademarked property of Wes Anderson, I'm just saying using all of them in the same movie is more or less plagiarism of his style.
Now that I've gotten that off my chest.
Ellen Page plays Juno MacGuff, the smartest pregnant sixteen-year-old girl ever. Her precocious and cynical personality (and hip teen-speak dialogue) bothered the hell out of me at first, but made for an excellent contrast to the girl she must become to face the harsh reality of her situation later on in the film. There's nothing better than a character who actually has a turn, a change in themselves through the course of a story. This is something that Wes Anderson should maybe focus more attention to in some of his characters!
The supporting cast is great. Michael Cera as Juno's less mature, less articulate, baby daddy, is the first representation of a high schooler that I've seen on film in forever that reminds of, get this, a real high schooler! Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner play the Yupple (Yuppie Couple) that desperately want a child of their own and are ready to adopt the Juno baby. Garner's character almost pulls us into Lifetime Land, but Juno won't let her, taking the gravitas out of the whole adoption thing. Jason Bateman plays the husby in his mid-thirties who is ready(?) to trade in his personal hopes and dreams to start a family, a theme that stares me in the face more and more each day. Yikes.
On a side note, and I may be the coolest audience member in the world if no one else picked up on this, but Juno's last name is MacGuff. The object of desire in any film that motivates the characters is referred to as "the MacGuffin". The object that motivates Juno, the object of desire for the Garner/Bateman couple, the baby, is literally IN MacGuff! MacGuffin.
I give this movie a "Must see it on, like, a chilled out Saturday afternoon with like, some friends. Or whatever."
Labels: Film Review Movie Comedy
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