Movie Review: Juno
Hey there Bat Fans.
For those fearing Juno will be the same rehashed pregnant teen wishwash, fear not. I went into the movie with a list of expectations of how the plot would unwind. Of course, I still expected the dialog to be pretty passable if not top-notch, with plenty of wit and all that good stuff. And it performed with flying colors. I haven't laughed like that in awhile. The most important thing to me though, and this is something I can really appreciate, is that the whole movie broke the standard mold of what you might expect. When seeing the trailer, I thought that Juno would realize the error of her ways and fight to keep the baby from the clutches of the evil step-mother to be, played by Jennifer Garner. And, she would raise the child in a dignified manner, resulting in an amusing, but probably predictable morality tale.
Nope. None of that happened, and I'm glad to say it. This movie is the best I've seen in 2008 thus far, and probably will be for many more months. The opening title sequence, with Juno walking around and drinking a lumber-jack's portion of orange juice, is one of the best I've seen in a film. Ever.
What surprised me most about Juno was that it never lagged in ways you might think a movie of this sort would, even if it was still fairly good. Looking at the trailer, people might expect this to be a poor man's Judd Apatow movie, probably loaded with scenes of somewhat funny dialog set back against a pretty mundane plot. And of course, one would assume this movie would still feel really long, even if it was still entertaining.
Luckily, none of those were issues. The dialog is the best I've heard in a film in probably...a couple years at least. Of course, there's always a realism factor which people might use as a valid complaint, like the fact everyone seems to have the same wit, and sixteen year-olds can be that artful with their tongues. But I don't think anyone would really care about that so much.
The ending, another part of the film that could have failed, thankfully didn't. I won't give anything away, but it seems right somehow. And of course, it's not all of what you would expect. Juno even seems to make a comment on it herself: in the closing scene, she describes how she strays from what's normal, but she's happy anyway. That's the movie in a nutshell: meets no standards of any movie you've ever seen (or at least I've seen), and gives a pretty darn original plot.
And laughs. Can't forget those of course.
9/10
For those fearing Juno will be the same rehashed pregnant teen wishwash, fear not. I went into the movie with a list of expectations of how the plot would unwind. Of course, I still expected the dialog to be pretty passable if not top-notch, with plenty of wit and all that good stuff. And it performed with flying colors. I haven't laughed like that in awhile. The most important thing to me though, and this is something I can really appreciate, is that the whole movie broke the standard mold of what you might expect. When seeing the trailer, I thought that Juno would realize the error of her ways and fight to keep the baby from the clutches of the evil step-mother to be, played by Jennifer Garner. And, she would raise the child in a dignified manner, resulting in an amusing, but probably predictable morality tale.
Nope. None of that happened, and I'm glad to say it. This movie is the best I've seen in 2008 thus far, and probably will be for many more months. The opening title sequence, with Juno walking around and drinking a lumber-jack's portion of orange juice, is one of the best I've seen in a film. Ever.
What surprised me most about Juno was that it never lagged in ways you might think a movie of this sort would, even if it was still fairly good. Looking at the trailer, people might expect this to be a poor man's Judd Apatow movie, probably loaded with scenes of somewhat funny dialog set back against a pretty mundane plot. And of course, one would assume this movie would still feel really long, even if it was still entertaining.
Luckily, none of those were issues. The dialog is the best I've heard in a film in probably...a couple years at least. Of course, there's always a realism factor which people might use as a valid complaint, like the fact everyone seems to have the same wit, and sixteen year-olds can be that artful with their tongues. But I don't think anyone would really care about that so much.
The ending, another part of the film that could have failed, thankfully didn't. I won't give anything away, but it seems right somehow. And of course, it's not all of what you would expect. Juno even seems to make a comment on it herself: in the closing scene, she describes how she strays from what's normal, but she's happy anyway. That's the movie in a nutshell: meets no standards of any movie you've ever seen (or at least I've seen), and gives a pretty darn original plot.
And laughs. Can't forget those of course.
9/10