Saturday, February 09, 2008

Juno Review


I am so glad I did not see Juno weeks ago when it was the "in" thing to do. It's not because I try hard to go against the grain (trust me, I am more pop and straight edge than most guys). It's mainly because I refused to watch a movie that potentially looked great but was being marketed as a Michael Cera film. Folks, if you think Juno is a Superbad, then you will be extremely disappointed, and rightfully so. Juno is not one of those movies. But since I have been in an extended vacation (i.e. resigned months ago from work), I have begun consuming large amounts of movie mush (that, and also I eat too much ;)).

So I just saw Juno sans the hype (I was bored this Friday night) and I was nicely blown away. I won't herald it as being one of my top favorite movies ever, but it is definitely highly recommended. I must repeat: I am glad that this movie was not like Superbad (though I did love Superbad). Juno is a very character driven movie-- a nice change of pace from your popcorn movies (gotta switch'em up every now and then). I could not predict what was going to happen next because it played slow in the beginning, but I was still very interested in the characters.

I did laugh outloud a couple of times (5 or 6 times?) and I smile alot too. But I was really impressed that Juno got a little serious towards the end (take that, stupid marketing ploys). Hallelujah, the story became juicy. There was some tension all thanks to the great roles of Jason Bateman and Jennifer Gardner. First off, yay for Arrested Development alumni! But I have to say that Bateman and Gardner really stole a part of the movie. I really did feel weird from the relationship that developed between Bateman and Ellen Page (Juno). I am convinced that Bateman can act in a drama. Cool bonus. Also, I never really liked anyting Garner was in. Maybe I just haven't watched enough of her movies, but she played a great weird baby-loving mother-to-be. Really great casting all around. J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney were solid too.

There was actually some meaning in this movie and tugged on some heart strings. (Again, glad that Juno was not the comedy that it was marketed as.)

Enjoy Juno.




Big ups to Cera and Bateman. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for that AD movie rumor.




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