Juno
Today is J.K. Simmons’ birthday, so let’s celebrate with a long delayed review of critically lauded Juno.
Ah, Juno. A girl-centric, teen-angst studio movie with an indie-sensibility (or, is that just pandering?) As you may already know, this movie is clever and charming. It’s certainly likable, but not painfully so.
Ellen Page is Juno MacGuff - a precocious 16 year old who finds herself knocked up because she decided to fuck her friend, Paulie (Michael Cera - oh yeah, can I be next? I know how to put on a condom) mostly out of boredom. It’s never really explained why she thought she wouldn’t get pregnant and decided against any kind of birth control, but it doesn’t seem too important to anyone. She also quickly decides against terminating the pregnancy and instead wants to give it to a couple that really wants a baby. This couple ends up being Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner – WASPy to the max, but genuinely good people.
I wanted to hate this movie. Boy, did I want to hate it. But I’ve been sitting on this review for weeks and really, I don’t hate it. What saves it from beeing too too clever is an ensemble cast that I totally want to party with. Ellen Page is so clever (too clever), Michael Cera is so cute (too cute), JK Simmons as Juno’s dad is paternal, but not schmaltzy, the always amazing Allison Janney is so good as Juno’s wacky but well meaning stepmother, Jennifer Garner is so great as the frigid but ultimately sweet, barren WASPy woman. Jason Bateman is good too, but I think was miscast as the tragically hip guy who got stuck in a marriage with an uptight – but hot – chick (and there were no Michael Bluth/George Michael scenes which made me a little sad).
So, really great cast, great performances, too much clever, too much indie rock (like “I am soooo cool because I know Sonic Youth.” Please.). Oh, and too many of the good jokes were in the trailer. Juno gets a shrug and a nod: “Yeah, it’s ok.”