Viewing Log: Juno (2007)

January 1, 2008

The opening credits animation sequence is freakin’ cool.

Ellen Page (who really impressed me last year in Hard Candy) is phenomenal in this role.

The single real flaw in the movie is that the first 10 minutes or so of dialogue are overwritten, leaving the characters no room to breathe (I like Rainn Wilson in general, but his lines here are the perfect example)… but there is a single moment when it all turns around: after telling her parents she is pregnant her father remarks that he didn’t think she was the kind of girl who would make that mistake and Juno looks at him for a second then says “I don’t know what kind of girl I am.” It’s a fantastic moment with Page’s complete mastery of facial expression and emotion, tone– I was floored. It’s not that the dialogue subsequently becomes more “accurate”– it’s that the humanity of the characters is so firmly in place that the evocation of this unique world that partially intersects our own is complete.

I can anticipate the complaints this film will get: the dialogue isn’t “real”, there is no reflection on women’s rights, Juno is too adult/smart/witty/etc… they are all wrong.

There are so many moving and funny moments in this film– it provokes deep emotion and high hilarity without being gaudy or obvious.

The soundtrack is like the best box of chocolates– a constant supply of treats, some different, some the same, all good. Anchored by Kimya Dawson songs, here a a few others that remain stuck in my mind: Mott the Hoople’s (was it originally David Bowie’s?) “All the Young Dudes” and The Moldy Peaches (Kimya Dawson’s band) “Anyone Else But You” and Cat Power and Belle & Sebastian…

Olivia Thirlby, who plays Juno’s best friend, should break out big after this movie. Michael Cera, Juno’s friend/boyfriend/sperm donor needs to break out of this character, which is pretty much an extension of his role in Arrested Development, but boy is he good at it.

I sure was happy to see Allison Janney again, and again she kicks a**. I miss the early days of The West Wing. These are not your normal teen comedy parents.

It’s a strange year when the two best movies I’ve seen are: Juno and No Country for Old Men.

Lineage: Love-child of Clerks and Heathers who spent a lot of time watching films like Little Miss Sunshine…

Tags: cinema, film, Screening Log