« Hey Herman! | Main | OK Oscar, I Forgive You »

January 30, 2008

Oh That Juno...

Monday night I went to see a fantastic film, Juno, a movie about a 16-year-old girl who gets pregnant and makes the decision to keep the baby rather than go through with an abortion. I got to be honest, I was somewhat apprehensive about seeing a film that has been talked up as the greatest film since Citizen Kane. If it weren't for all the buzz and Oscar noms I wouldn't have seen the movie in the first place. You see, I've been overexposed by the corky/indy films that have come our way in the past few years. First there was Napolean Dynamite and Garden State, and then Little Miss Sunshine...and now Juno. They all had great moments with real/regular people and their wounds and weirdness, and they all have a soundtrack that kind of supports their characters in a comfy sort of way. As great as these films have been, I'm kind of over it.
But then enters the fresh writing from Diablo Cody, a hipster with enough piercings and tattoos to make Amy Winehouse jeolous. However, it's not what she wears, but what she creates in her characters that make Juno a great piece of art.

Juno MacGuff, who is played by Ellen Page, has the perfect combination of juvenile attitude and wisdom to single-handedly carry the movie. From the beginning of the film to the very end I found myself rooting for her in this unexpected trial. It is her hopeful notions that relationships can continue strongly that breaks your heart. In the end, it is a love of a child that prevails.
If the storyline doesn't pull you to the theatre to see this sweet and tragic/triumphant story, maybe the cast will.

Not only was Page's performance incredible, a word I use way too much I realize, but you have not one, but two actors from the best comedic tv show of the past 5 years, Arrested Development. That's right, both Micheal Bluth and George Micheal, that is, Jason Batemen and Micheal Cera, are a part of the fun. Jennifer Garner played a convincing suburbanite longing to have a home fit enough for a baby...a role that showed her range as an actor capable of good things in Hollywood.
As for the music, that Moldy Peaches band is both good and annoying, not at the same time however. There are great songs that pull you in, and yet other songs that make you long for Jesus to come back soon. The soundtrack which just hit the top of Billboard's Top 100, has some gems, but I don't understand why they would put the actual recording of Anyone Else But You, as sung by Cera and Page on there...it's pretty bad, not even enjoyable in thinking back on the movie with a warm heart.
Although Cody swears that the movie is not a political statement, I can't help but think of the sanctity of life when watching. You see both sides of a teen having a baby and then a mother receiving a baby who is unable to bear her own children. Obviously there are more issues to think about than the pro-life crusade, but it was encouraging to see a film that put forward the possibility of what could be.
Regardless of whether you are a pro-lifer or a pro-choicer, if you will, this film is bright, funny, tragic, hopeful, and encouraging at the same time.

| By Nathan Gemayel | 8:57 PM

Comments

Posted by: Neil E. Das at January 31, 2008 12:26 AM

Email "Oh That Juno..." to a friend!