REVIEW - Juno (2007)

by Mr. Blunderson

written by Diablo Cody
directed by Jason Reitman

By now there isn't a lot I could add to the collective commentary about Juno other than I really liked the movie. But that isn't going to stop me rambling on for several paragraphs, cause we all know that won't ever happen.

Everyone is drooling over Diablo Cody as the next big thing, and as amazing as her screenplay is, as much as I enjoyed her characters, I am one of those cynics who believes time will be the ultimate judge on that. On the other hand, there are plenty of people (including myself) who will never write anything this good so Ms. Cody (from her blog I know she is now divorced) should be honored for that achievement. Absolutely.

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last 6 months (and admittedly to me that doesn't sound so bad) then you know that Juno is the story of a 16 year old girl and the direction her life takes vis a vis an unplanned pregnancy. There is a real organic nature to this film for the most part. The characters in Juno's town look like people who live on my street (unlike say the stars of Cloverfield who look like they are waiting for the writers strike to end so they can start in their own 90210, OC, October Road spinnoff/hybrid). They are certainly funnier than the people on my street, but they look real.

After deciding she is going to keep the baby and give it to a couple she finds in the Penny Saver, Juno ventures to the suburbs where the houses are bigger and have much more stucco, and you get that feeling she really is going into a whole other world, maybe even another planet. Here, Jennifer Garner is amazing as a woman who desperately wants to be a mother while avoiding the baby hungry stereotype. Her husband is played by Jason Bateman who answers a question about wanting to be a father where the words don't match the look in his eyes and we as an audience get a glimpse of genuine fear and unease... it was an amazing moment.

Juno's dad and step-mom are played (respectively) by J.K. Simmons and the always solid Allison Janney. Simmons brings his impeccable and gruff comic delivery that you would expect, but gets to demonstrate a subtle range that he never had time for in his brief cameos in the Spiderman movies. Michael Cera is goofy and akward as Bleeker, who is referred to more than seen, which makes the moments when he is on screen even better.

Ellen Page has been heralded by nearly every critic on the planet and I won't disagree. I look forward to seeing what she does next. One place this film could have gone really wrong is by having Juno be a girl who is simply clever and witty beyond her years. Where the character triumphs is in those moments where the 16 year old shows through the bravado, adding a depth to her character that is rarely present in teen comedies.

But that is what makes this a better movie than most. It consistently delivers just a bit more than we would expect and perhaps even deserve, which is why Juno gets an "Oh Hells Yes" on the Mr. Blunderson scale.