Spring Break
Fast and clever Juno keeps audiences waiting for more
John Holthus
Issue date: 1/11/08 Section: Diversions
Comedy at its finest, "Juno" is a modern day tale of a high school student that decides to have sex with her friend Bleeker (Michael Cera) out of a combination of boredom and curiosity. Just as all those ridiculous abstinence posters warned against, Juno becomes pregnant after just one time. There is very little not to love about Jason Reitman's newest masterpiece. Reitman also directed the witty and charismatic "Thank You for Smoking."
Juno is a highly compelling and interactive film that captures the audience and stays gripping and glowingly humorous throughout the entirety of the movie. The characters of the film are spot on for perfection, but it is the steely sharp dialog that keeps the audience hanging on every word so as not to miss the subtle and brilliant humor laced within each line.
Juno (Ellen Page) is a 16-year-old whose personality and sense of humor is more than a little off the beaten path. She enjoys spending time with her friend and band mate Paulie Bleeker, but on one particular awkward day they decide to consummate an old chair in her front living room in a way that could later only be said to be magnificent. After such said act of defacement, Juno begins her twisting tale of finding out she is pregnant and then the hopeless gravity of trying to make a choice of what to do with the specimen growing inside her. Unlike "Knocked Up" that hit the screens with a similar comedy about how to deal with pregnancy, Juno is not nearly as frightening to the audience member, but is much more quip and witty.
Enter Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner respectively); a young, financially well-off couple that has the misfortune of not being able to have their own child. Vanessa wants little else in the world other than to be a mother, while Mark secretly wishes he could trade his new "perfect" life, family and home for his days of touring with his band that he gave up for Vanessa. Juno likes Mark because of their shared interests in movies, comics and most importantly, music.
It isn't until Mark confesses to Juno that he plans to leave Vanessa to go back to his old lifestyle does the movie strike a heart cord or two as the resulting argument spills over to Vanessa and how Juno isn't sure that their home is a good place for a nearly birthed child. Juno must sit down and take a look at everything falling apart in her life when she decides that she does love Bleeker, who in turn wants to give her the world, and that Vanessa will make a better mother than Juno ever would have. Of course all ends well and happy.
Reitman's Juno is an impressive film that is worth making the time to enjoy it. If you found "Thank You for Smoking" enjoyable at all or if you have heard good things about Juno, this is the movie to see - maybe even more than once. Juno absolutely lives up to all the hype it has been receiving as well as the three golden globes it got the nod from.
John Holthus
diversions@dailybarometer.com
Juno is a highly compelling and interactive film that captures the audience and stays gripping and glowingly humorous throughout the entirety of the movie. The characters of the film are spot on for perfection, but it is the steely sharp dialog that keeps the audience hanging on every word so as not to miss the subtle and brilliant humor laced within each line.
Juno (Ellen Page) is a 16-year-old whose personality and sense of humor is more than a little off the beaten path. She enjoys spending time with her friend and band mate Paulie Bleeker, but on one particular awkward day they decide to consummate an old chair in her front living room in a way that could later only be said to be magnificent. After such said act of defacement, Juno begins her twisting tale of finding out she is pregnant and then the hopeless gravity of trying to make a choice of what to do with the specimen growing inside her. Unlike "Knocked Up" that hit the screens with a similar comedy about how to deal with pregnancy, Juno is not nearly as frightening to the audience member, but is much more quip and witty.
Enter Mark and Vanessa Loring (Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner respectively); a young, financially well-off couple that has the misfortune of not being able to have their own child. Vanessa wants little else in the world other than to be a mother, while Mark secretly wishes he could trade his new "perfect" life, family and home for his days of touring with his band that he gave up for Vanessa. Juno likes Mark because of their shared interests in movies, comics and most importantly, music.
It isn't until Mark confesses to Juno that he plans to leave Vanessa to go back to his old lifestyle does the movie strike a heart cord or two as the resulting argument spills over to Vanessa and how Juno isn't sure that their home is a good place for a nearly birthed child. Juno must sit down and take a look at everything falling apart in her life when she decides that she does love Bleeker, who in turn wants to give her the world, and that Vanessa will make a better mother than Juno ever would have. Of course all ends well and happy.
Reitman's Juno is an impressive film that is worth making the time to enjoy it. If you found "Thank You for Smoking" enjoyable at all or if you have heard good things about Juno, this is the movie to see - maybe even more than once. Juno absolutely lives up to all the hype it has been receiving as well as the three golden globes it got the nod from.
John Holthus
diversions@dailybarometer.com
Note: writers will not reply to comments.
Comments by registered users are approved by default.