It has exactly what I like in certain contemporary realistic fiction novels: it was able to tell a story about absolutely believable characters, in which no one was perfectly good, no one was evil, bad and good things happened, and I left the theater believing in the power of love. All kinds of love, not just romantic love. Best of all, it's funny in the right way for me--witty, clever dialogue. I would absolutely go see it again in the theater, and will probably buy it when it comes out on DVD.
Quick synopsis, in case you haven't heard about it: Juno is a high school junior who gets pregnant and decides to give the baby up for adoption. FYI: There's no discussion of the morality of Juno's decision to have sex (although some about her irresponsibility, since she decided to have sex but neglected birth control).
Go see it, if you haven't! If you have, spoilers below:
One of my favorite things about the movie is that Mark (the potential father, played by Jason Bateman) was NOT demonized. He made the right decision to leave his wife. I suspected early in the film that he wasn't really ready to be a father, and that he was very unhappy in his marriage--and yet I wasn't sure, which means to me that Bateman was doing a wonderful job portraying his character's ambivalence.
I also loved Juno's father and stepmom. Again, very realistic characters. There's a bit of humor where Juno is lightly mocking her stepmom's obsession with dogs--but it's taken exactly far enough to make the character realistic and sympathetic, not ridiculous.
And finally, I think the relationship between Juno and Mark was handled with exactly the right amount of delicacy. They were attracted to each other enough to make me just a little bit uncomfortable--just enough to make me like Mark a little bit less--and yet it was the perfect way to make Mark's decision to leave his wife understandable and even commendable. His wife didn't understand or like him in the way that Juno did, and it seemed to me that it was meeting Juno that made him realize that he needed more from a relationship.
Anyone else seen it yet?
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
I loved this movie.
I was pleasantly surprised with the way they handled all the characters, giving each a real personality without making anyone cartoonish.
I was a little worried when they first introduced Jennifer Garner's character that they were going to make her into a caricature of yuppie parent neuroses. Instead, she came off as someone trying to act with dignity in an awkward situation, showing both her fervent desire to adopt and her very vulnerability based on her self doubts as a woman because she can't have her own baby.
The scene in the mall was absolutely pivotal to me. We (and Juno) get to see her as a woman who wants to be a mom, not just a woman who wants the world to see her as a mom.
I also liked Juno's family dynamic. They pulled off smart-ass without being nasty to each other (the way the sniping came across on Roseanne most of the time). It's clearly a family that loves each other. The step-mother has a believable relationship with Juno, and I loved her instinctive protection of Juno during the sonogram.
The actress who played Juno was phenomenal. Her brash facade was evident as a facade - otherwise she would have seen heartless - but not a facade that covers weakness. Rather, she is strong but still unsure in a believable manner. The strength and the unsureness are both presented subtly, often in ways I couldn't specifically identify.
I also loved the fingernails scene, although I'm not sure the timing was right for fingernails to be present.
Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
This is the only movie out that I haven't seen that I still want to see. I'll probably see it next Monday.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Fingernails start to grow from the nail bed around 9 weeks after conception.
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
quote:Fingernails start to grow from the nail bed around 9 weeks after conception.
Thanks! That means it wasn't far off, if it was off at all. I thought it was 12 or 16 weeks, but that was from a long time ago.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
I watched this last night and I really enjoyed it for many of the same reasons as Dagonee. I totally agree about the mall scene and I think that we needed to see it to understand Juno's decision in the end. I was really impressed at how they handled Bleeker's cluelessness as a teenage boy who got his best friend (not girlfriend) pregnant.
I thought that the acting was great in this movie. I really liked that they didn't waste time having dialog with many unimportant characters. The writing was sharp and the deliver was excellent.
Some of the best lines in the movie come in the first five minutes. These are a couple spoken by Rainn Wilson in his characters only scene:
quote:You better pay for that pee-stick when you're done with it. Don't think it's yours just because you marked it with your urine!
quote:That ain't no etch-a-sketch. This is one doodle that can't be un-did, homeskillet.
I also really enjoyed this exchange near the end:
quote:Juno MacGuff: I think I'm, like, in love with you. Paulie Bleeker: You mean as friends? Juno MacGuff: No, I mean, like, for real. 'Cause you're, like, the coolest person I've ever met, and you don't even have to try, you know... Paulie Bleeker: I try really hard, actually.
Posted by dkw (Member # 3264) on :
Nine weeks after conception is 11 weeks pregnant, since pregnancy is dated from last menstrual period. Which means at the point you have sex you can become retroactively pregnant for the last two weeks!
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
I really enjoyed it. The quicky, quirky dialogue reminded me of the Gilmore Girls and it was good to see a movie about teens that depicts them are quick-minded and outside the mainstream.
Personally, I thought the "happy romantic ending" was unnecessary and I could have done without that entire storyline. I would have preferred a larger focus on Juno's family life and how that has affected her feelings regarding the life she wants for her baby.
On the way home from the theater, my boyfriend got into an argument about Mark and his wife (her name escapes me for now.) Ending their relationship was for the best and I'm glad Juno left the adoption as is. But I just couldn't believe that they would get into such a bad relationship from the start. Mark shouldn't have gotten married if he wanted to be a rockstar and she shouldn't have married him if she wanted to settle down and have a family. He said from the day that they got married, she wanted to be a mother. But did they not talk about this BEFORE tying the knot?? Did her disapproval of his interests magically start after the honeymoon? Or did her failed attempts at motherhood change her and he just couldn't handle it or stand up for himself?
Maybe I'm young and naive, but they were just so unbelievable as a couple. Unless they got married after dating for two months or something in which case, I don't know how I feel about them.
Posted by Javert Hugo (Member # 3980) on :
I absolutely loved this movie, for all the reasons mentioned. I would happily see it again.
Posted by The White Whale (Member # 6594) on :
I absolutely loved the film as well, for the reasons mentioned above.
I actually wrote a review of it for my school paper:
I thought the acting and writing were magnificent, and I love Ellen Page and Michael Cera. I was very impressed with J.K. Simmons, who I knew could act but I thought he nailed Juno's father as one of the most believable characters I've seen in a long time.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
Well, people change after they get married, and plenty of people get married assuming that the other person will change. (The assumption isn't all that out of line, actually.) I can imagine that Mark married Vanessa, assuming that in 5 or so years he would want a kid. After all, doesn't everyone? I got the feeling from Bateman's portrayal that he was *trying* to want to be a father, at least sometimes.
Similarly, I can imagine that Vanessa married Mark, loving his anti-establishment musician image. But what is super-cool in your boyfriend when you're 21 or 22 is less cool in your 30-something husband. Especially when you leave to go work hard all day, and he gets to stay home and fool around with his music, or maybe just bum around the house all day. How can you know? (Listen, I'm not saying that Mark was or wasn't working hard...but I can completely understand Vanessa getting annoyed with him not "contributing.")
I did really like the happy romantic ending because I think it was the culmination of the movie's message about relationships: that you have to work at them, that they're not perfect, but that they're at their best when you love someone because of their imperfections, not in spite of them. (I'm thinking of the song that they were singing, too.)
In the "moments I loved": When Paulie told Juno she would have made a really bad wife. All of his love and pain came through right there,
Posted by Puffy Treat (Member # 7210) on :
I -want- to see it! It seems to get rave reviews from...well...everyone. Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
Ehh, I didn't love it. Juno (the character) annoyed me a lot in the beginning. But the emotional scenes towards the end were very good. I loved Jennifer Garner's character especially. Also...I love Michael Cera. With a passion.
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
Loved everything except the soundtrack, which was hitting me in the face the entire movie. Great writing, acting, loved the characters and the style. But the soundtrack was trying so hard to be "indie" that it really got in the way.
Though that's what most people are saying they loved the most, though--anybody with me on this one?
Posted by TomDavidson (Member # 124) on :
I adored the film, and I suspect it was almost entirely due to the actors, especially Ellen Page. Some of the dialogue was so "crafted" that it was almost laughable (for reasons other than the traditional), but somehow Page managed to sell most of it.
Posted by scifibum (Member # 7625) on :
Page is a good actor. "Hard Candy" is not a nice movie, but really showcases her charisma. She is really compelling for some reason.
I liked the movie a lot. Like Tom said the dialogue was a bit more clever than people generally manage in real life, but it wasn't grating.
I disagree that the Mark character did the right thing. If he didn't want a kid, the right thing would have been to be honest about that with his wife, PRIOR to dumping her with an adoption underway. And cozying up to Juno the way he did was creepy.
And yes, the soundtrack was trying too hard.
But overall, I really enjoyed the movie and thought it was pretty well done.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I saw it and it was really good. The thing I thought was awesome besides what everyone else has mentioned is that Jock who secretly lusted after her, and looked so stricken when she gets back together with Bleeker. It was just two shots, though the first one involved quite a bit of introspection there.
"She didn't give you the stinkeye, that's just how her face looks."
Posted by Tara (Member # 10030) on :
quote:Originally posted by pooka:
"She didn't give you the stinkeye, that's just how her face looks."
That was the best line in the movie! I love Michael Cera. I guess I already said that.
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
I completely agree about the soundtrack - I was having horrid Garden State flashbacks through a fair part of the movie.
That said, I very much enjoyed the movie.
Posted by pooka (Member # 5003) on :
I didn't mind the soundtrack, but the comments on it caused me to really appreciate the silence that accompanies her breakdown on the highway.
Posted by solo (Member # 3148) on :
quote:Originally posted by Carrie: I completely agree about the soundtrack - I was having horrid Garden State flashbacks through a fair part of the movie.
I think the soundtrack for both Juno and Garden State were great (as were both movies).
Posted by Carrie (Member # 394) on :
Well, I'm not trying to say neither is good - yet, as I haven't made it all the way through the 'Juno' OST - but it was the exact same sort of in-your-face-LOOK-AT-ME-I'm-super-indie soundtrack.
Posted by Liz B (Member # 8238) on :
Yeah, that's why I liked it. I also love the soundtrack for "But I'm a Cheerleader!"
I think it's because I have no connections to the indie scene...if such a thing exists...and I really never seek out new music to listen to. But it's absolutely the kind of music I like, so when it's really obvious in the soundtrack, instead of being annoyed, I'm like, "oooh, I like that song....oooh, I like that one even better."
Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
quote:Originally posted by scifibum: Page is a good actor. "Hard Candy" is not a nice movie, but really showcases her charisma. She is really compelling for some reason.
Holy crow. I mean, I read this, looked it up on IMdb, and wondered what it'd be like. So I just watched it. That was freaky intense. She's seriously scary.
Posted by Starsnuffer (Member # 8116) on :
I really liked Juno. I thought the relationship thing with Bleeker made sense and I think ignoring that part of it or saying "they went their separate ways" would have lost a big message. The writing and acting was very good. I thought Vanessa, or at least the acting of Vanessa, was the worst part of the entire movie. It seems so absurd how neurotic she was behaving and how nobody tried to lower the stress that came up whenever she was in the scene. The scene in the mall did a good job of humanizing her after her role of seeming to be secretly dreading her new kid.
I loved the soundtrack during the movie because even though dialog wasn't happening the music was still telling the story, just in a slightly different way. The songs were so absurdly precise to the circumstances they fit. Out of context however, (my friend burnt me the soundtrack), only a few of the songs are very good, most just seem stupid and way too weird.
Good movie.
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
I saw the movie the day it came out. From the point of view of a person who is the same age as Ellen Page's and Michael Cera's characters, I think that the movie did an okay job of making the characters seem like real people. I ended up seeing the movie twice, and the second time I found myself laughing at things that I didn't the first time. (Bleeker's mom racing Juno up the staircase was hilarious!)
On a side note Ellen Page has stunning eyes. She also looks like a friend of mine.
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