Since I figure a lot of people have seen it already, I’m going to keep this short. I’ve also been toying with the idea of having more short reviews than long ones, focusing my lengthier diatribes on new releases. This keeps people from having to slog through paragraphs on movies that are old news, and it should theoretically keep my blog more readable on a regular basis. Any thoughts? Please let me know.
Anyway, here goes.
Summary:
High school girl named Juno gets pregnant and then uses a plethora of improbably witty quips to maneuver her way through the process of giving up the baby for adoption.
Good:
It had its moments. There were some parts I laughed at and some cutesy stuff that made me feel all fuzzycuddly. I was entertained through and through.
Bad:
The improbability factor. No matter which way you sliced it, this was a ridiculously rosy view of what happens to a girl during teenage pregnancy in Middle America. Juno cries once during the entire movie. Once. Evidently shielded from actual human (let alone pregnant teenager) emotion by the juggernaut of her verbosity, Juno makes her way from start to finish acting like “it’s really no big deal.” She has parents who support her, finds the perfect woman to be the new mother of her child, and maintains her central friendships and romantic interest with minimal damage. I don’t buy it.
Now, I am aware that Juno isn’t supposed to be a documentary of teenage pregnancy in America. And to be honest, I wouldn’t watch it if it was. It’s just that the sheer fakeness of the dialogue and the plot didn’t charm me in the way I think they were meant to, and for that reason, I think this movie was kind of just ok. Sort of like when you’re craving something sweet out to eat and you settle for stale vending machine candy. It’s not the fresh baked chocolate chip cookie you were hoping for, but it’s not a watery glass of Kool Aid either.
Overall:
Worth watching once as a rental (not that you have any other options currently), for a handful of laughs and a good test of how much snark you can take in one sitting.
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I agree that it was just ok. I had seen it waaay after its release, and I think because of that, a lot of the jokes were old (I had already heard them quoted hundreds of times), and instead I was just creeped out.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I loved Allison Janey--probably my favorite in the movie.
I loved her too! I was looking over her imdb record and I didn't realize she was the voice of Peach in /Finding Nemo/ which I re-watched recently.
ReplyDeleteI think my favorite role of hers (though I have to admit I haven't seen her in as much as I'd like) was in /Drop Dead Gorgeous/. Her flirtations with the cameramen making the documentary are classic.
I grew to loathe Michael Cera's character in the film, or rather loathe the "budding romance" that occurs during/after the pregnancy between the two parents-to-be.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I realize that we cannot expect his character to be mature, and to support Juno in any way. I mean, come on, he mostly cares about his mom not finding out about his messy "situation". He's talking about forming a band or asking a girl to the dance, while Juno is wrestling with complicated situations and feelings. Juno lets him take the easy way out, because I think she doesn't know how to handle things herself. But it's clear that she's not happy.
Sure, I can see this happening. They're both young, despite the pretentiously mature dialogue. They both want to pretend like it's no big deal and that their lives can go on.
But what bugged me is that the pregnancy did not change ANYTHING in terms of maturity, at least the way I saw it. If anything, it somehow let the two characters regress even further into childhood romance.
Mac to her cheese???
Really?
I don't think so.
Alla, I totally agree about Michael Cera's character. When the movie was over I was angrily asking no one in particular "why did he get off the hook?" Seriously, he never even considers supporting Juno in any way other than saying he had feelings for her, but only when she confronts him about taking another girl to the prom. While that was probably a realistic scenario (as you pointed out), it still really irritated me. He didn't even try.
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for pointing out that their predicament leads to little to no visible emotional development or maturity. I didn't really zero in on it in my own viewing, but now that you point it out it seems like something I should have realized too.
Yay for criticizing overrated movies! And all movies!! :)