MOVIE REVIEW: Juno
It was coined the 'Little Miss Sunshine' of the year, but oh, how I disagree.
'Juno,' a movie about a quirky pregnant teen who decides to go along with her pregnancy to give the gift of life to an infertile married couple, sounds promising enough, but if you split open the hype and brush away the fangirls, you're left with something that could very well pass for yet another overrated independent film (see: 'Lost in Translation').
I thought I was going to love this movie to no end (I mean, it stars an array of great actors and was one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2007), but in the first scene when Rainn Wilson (playing a random store clerk) opens his mouth spewing cheesy quick-witted one liners about Juno's obvious pregnancy ("This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet."), I began to worry - Is this movie going to be a 2-hour long episode of 'The Gilmore Girls' where everything said involves a million puns and no breathers? Yes dear Alanna, just like Michael Cera in this movie, you've nailed it (how's that for a pun?).
I was content with the simplistic, yet creative storyline; it was definitely a very feel-good movie that, shoot, even made me want to be a teenager all over again so that I could possibly get impregnated and give the baby up to a sterile couple. I even loved most of the characters. In fact, the movie was one character short of perfection; the awkwardly sweet (and very typecast) Michael Cera, the lovable Jennifer Garner, and the funny Jason Bateman are welcome to come hang with me any day, but the one character that I couldn't stand the sight of (or rather, the sound of) was the one the entire movie was revolved around: Ellen Page as Juno, or Juno as Ellen Page (let's face it, the only acting Page did was pretend she was a pregnant 16-year-old, other than that she was just playing herself).
Forget about realistic pausing and stuttering, Juno is a pro at coming up with sarcastically inane jokes at the blink of an eye, which consisted of a slew of perfect rhymes ("fertile myrtle") and kooky words/phrases that takes an average Joe a few seconds to comprehend ("I am for shizz up the spout"). Upright Citizens Brigade, watch out; Juno is the ultimate improv queen! Alas, she is also incredibly annoying, which resulted in me wanting to shut her "freakin' gob" more so than try to actually understand what she is trying to say.
I felt as if Juno's dialogue was too contrived with dialect that even a too-cool-for-school 16-year-old would never blurt out in real life (unless they were aspiring stand-up comedians). I understand that Juno is supposed to be reminiscent of a timely cartoon character that has an individual shtick and look, but just like a funny joke that quickly loses its charm after the millionth time reciting it, Juno's language became overkill.
At one point in the movie, where Juno meets her future baby's parents for the very first time, she walks into their home and instead of saying a well-mannered "hello," homegirl decides to put on a snarky comedy act. Okay, we get it, she's a wallflower who overcompensates by trying too hard to be pretentious and quirky, but must we be reminded of this in every scene?
The one thing Juno adores most about her baby-daddy, Bleaker (Cera), is that he is "so cool and doesn't even try," but when she points that out to him, Cera looks at her with those infectious puppy-dog eyes and says, "Actually, I try really hard." - That was probably my favorite scene, because besides being incredibly endearing, it showed me that although Juno tried so hard to emulate complete and utter coolness through-out the entire movie, she really had absolutely no idea what cool is.
Even though Juno's cold exterior warmed up toward the end, it was hard for me to warm up to her, because after sitting through such obnoxious brattiness for an hour and a half, I just couldn't muster enough care to give two shits about her struggle to find herself.
Contrary to my liking only 80% of this movie (the other 20% down the drain thanks to Diablo Cody's poor proverbial attempts at channeling a "real life" 16-year-old), I do recommend 'Juno' to all of the existing hipsters in the world, and anyone else who want to sit back and enjoy something without having to think too much, or laugh too hard. Just like 'Little Miss Sunshine,' it is a heartfelt movie, but the new 'Little Miss Sunshine' it definitely is not.
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