Original review here – which I basically agree with. I think my viewing suffered from great expectations.
The Good, Part I: Jennifer Garner (in a superb performance) is the only character in the movie that actually resembles a real person. It’s just a movie, you say? This is not a Wes Anderson movie where the lead character is only required to put on a school play. You’re dealing with abortion, adoption, teenage sex, teenage pregnancy, and divorce.
The Good, Part II: I prefer Jason Reitman’s reliable direction to Diablo Cody’s inconsistent writing. Several shots of Juno walking against the crowd are nicely done, the perfect visual for her situation. The glances between Jason Bateman and Garner are a great touch, and it’s nice that Reitman took so much time with the faces (best scene: Garner feels the baby move). (click below for the Bad and the Ugly)
The Bad: Diablo Cody doesn’t have the first clue how to write for a male. 1) J.K. Simmons would not have responded to the news of his daughter’s pregnancy in such a cavalier manner by cracking jokes. And a blue-collar former military man certainly would not have embraced the guy who knocked up his daughter after her traumatic delivery. Bullsh!t. 2) After all the lawyer stuff, Jason Bateman would have never shown a 16 year old an R- or X-rated horror movie, and he would have been much more cautious about being alone with her.
The Ugly, Part I: Not sure which line of dialogue I disliked the most. It may be Rainn Wilson’s forced confrontational exchange ("This is one doodle that can't be undid, home skillet"- where's Dwight Schrute's mace when you need it?). Or maybe it’s Allison Janney ripping on doctors (there were cheers in the theater – hey, folks, we walk amongst you – sometimes in a T-shirt and jeans sans stethoscope). Ms. Janney’s character just ripped the ultrasound technician (by the way, Diablow, it’s sonographer or ultrasound technologist) for exceeding her boundaries (which she clearly did and would probably be fired for). Ms. Janney then wants to tell the doctor what to do – we can do that, if you like – do you want your stepdaughter and her baby dead? At least then you could get your Weimaraners.
The Ugly, Part II: Maybe I was set up to dislike the movie by the previews of Fool’s Gold, Definitely Maybe, and Made of Honor. Geez, I can’t find my knees. Now I know how many slippery pratfalls I can see before I lose the will to live (4).
Intellectual honesty time: After all this, it sounds like I’d give Juno a D but it is a good movie. Much, much better and more accomplished than so much indie crap. Ellen Page is likable and Michael Cera does his usual great stuttering thing. Some of the lines are funny and it’s certainly unique dialogue. I like new voices in movies but it’s overcooked. And given the $100 million box office and the 4 Oscar nominations, I was expecting much more, not just better than Junebug. B
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Juno
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6 comments:
anti-doctor sentiment always leave me wincing, but i won't get on a soapbox yet. i haven't seen this and i am most looking forward to jennifer garner/jason bateman. hopefully it won't be too cutesy.
Garner deserved a nod (this year was too tough in that category).
Janney is a beating.
I think you heard too much about it (as you pointed out) before you saw it. Hard to believe it got nominated for Best Picture.
my favorite scene is garner touching juno's bloated belly as well. her fear that she could somehow hurt the child just by touching juno's stomach is heart wrenching. to me the nomination feels like the nom for little miss sunshine. a good movie, but not one of the best of the year (in this case, not even the best comedy). i give it a B+. while i agree she can't write for men, there are tons of movies out there that can't or don't write for women (see no country and blood).
I liked the movie, primarily because it strayed away from the extreme over the top humor found in Superbad and Knocked up.
After a while Juno did hit me too much like a young Janine Garofalo sans anything Janine's been in.
I agree with your assessment though...for the first half of the movie I felt bad for Bateman and then he just became gross.
Fair enough, priest, Kelly MacDonald seemed well written, but NCFOM and TWBB are definitely guy movies.
By the way, my favorite doctor movie (The Hospital) is on Turner Classic Movies on Friday February 1 at 9:15 p.m. Central Standard Time.
I thought your favorite was Patch Adams.
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