Juno: Note-Perfect
Justin McGuire reviews Juno, a film nominated for Oscars in four categories: Best Motion Picture, Best achievement in directing, Best screenplay and Best performance by an actress in a leading role
Juno (2007)
Juno, played by Ellen Page, is the spunky, quirky, 16 year old girl. She’s one generation removed from me, which is enough that I can’t comment if any of her or her peers’ dialog or reactions are realistic. “Are you cool?” “Blizzard.” However I suspect not, since she is presented as an unusual outsider even among her peers, so I’d assume that the movie took some liberties with the typical teenager’s lifestyle and slang.
The first half of the movie is funny. I can’t analyze humor, so I’ll just say that it works entirely due to Page being able to pull off some ridiculous dialog. Try this, “I heard this one chick took like too many behavioral meds and she went to the mall, ripped off all her clothes, dived into the fountain and was all like ARG I’M A KRAKKEN FROM THE SEA!” Now try saying all that while still sounding like a reasonably sane 16 year old girl. It’s not easy, and kudos to Page pulling it off.
The second half of the movie is mostly a very entertaining study in contrasts between the characters. There are still funny moments, but humor is no longer the point. The couple who wants to adopt Juno’s baby is introduced, Mark and Vanessa Lorin, played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.
Juno hits it off with Mark, a former grunge guitarist, due to their compatible taste in music and movies, and she develops a little crush on him in the manner that all high school girls develop harmless crushes on older, unavailable men. In this case, their relationship almost starts to go too far as Mark treats her as a regular women and not as a minor, and even looks for her understanding in a personal decision that Juno shouldn’t be a part of.
By the end, Mark seems to forget that she’s carrying a child meant for him and his wife, and at this point Juno, along with the audience, starts to sympathize with his Vanessa, and Juno emotionally returns to her first love in Paulie Bleeker, played by Michael Cera, the father of the baby.
Ultimately, the two male interests in Juno’s life can be summarized by these two simple exchanges, which speak volumes to how they see themselves and who they are.
Mark: (on where he’s moving) “It’s not an apartment, it’s a loft.”
Vanessa: “Well aren’t you cool.”
Juno: “You’re cool without even trying.”
Paulie: “Actually I try a lot.”
The movie ends with Juno playing the guitar in a folksy and happy duet with Paulie. Juno’s taste in music normally looks towards punk and rock, so this little ditty in the ending shows exactly how her emotional state has changed.
The entire movie is note-perfect. There are so many details they got right, and so many pitfalls they avoided. The movie rests on Ellen Page’s shoulders, and she holds it together perfectly.
My rating: stars
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(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
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