Juno: A Review

I went to a free screening of Juno. That's always nice because I love free stuff but also because I probably wouldn't have seen it otherwise. Hailed as this year's Little Miss Sunshine, my expectations for Juno were low. I thought Little Miss Sunshine was depressing and not all that funny. So I expected to be crying the entire movie.

Though, being an Alias and an Arrested Development fan, I was thrilled by the casting. I was, however, disappointed that Jason Bateman and Michael Cera weren't in a single scene together.

Throughout the movie, I was pretty angry. Mostly, it was the soundtrack that got to me. And also I couldn't help but to seethe at the thought of all the emo/indie kids that would think this was the greatest thing ever to be committed to celluloid. Most of the time when Juno was bonding with the future adoptive father of her baby played by Jason Bateman, I couldn't really understand what was going on. They just kept talking about movies and music that I've never heard of and would probably hate.

I also really hated the title character. I don't know if I take issue with Ellen Page or the character she was playing, but I didn't find her likable at all. I actually found her obnoxious most of the time. Mostly, I felt that no 16 year old, no matter how rebellious and sarcastic, could be so hostile to the people around her when they're just trying to help her out, especially at such a serious time. The way she spoke was also really weird and fake. I found myself thinking of Dawson's Creek, saying "Does anyone really talk like that?" It felt unrealistic and it made me hate her.

Aside from her, I was absolutely wowed by all the other performances. My Arrested Development alumns were great along with Jennifer Garner and Juno's parents, played by JK Simmons and Allison Janney were especially hilarious. The funniest parts of the movie came from them. The cast was great.

The story, all Juno-isms aside, was at the core a realistic story about something that happens more frequently than it should. I was happy with the decision she made regarding the baby, instead of getting an abortion or keeping the baby when she wasn't ready. The story wasn't half bad, and it definitely had a good message, though I definitely didn't think it deserved to be nominated for any Oscars.

Even though, throughout the movie, I wasn't impressed, I came home and found it really hard to hate it. It had it's funny moments, definitely more than I expected. And it was a cute story. My general impression and official review, pending second viewing, is that it didn't suck and I didn't hate it.