Saturday, February 02, 2008

Juno

The title character is a pregnant, do-it-yourself, independant minded girl of (only) sixteen, who heads for the abortion clinic and then quickly opts-out. Despite the subject matter, which is certainly not treated lightly, Juno is short of moralizing and melodramatic handwringing.

Choosing to have the baby and give it to some perfect parents who are childless, she finds an upper-middle class yuppie couple, presented in biting stereotypical fashion. There is a sardonic commentary here, as there is in nearly every situation Juno encounters, as is the title character herself.

The humor is intelligent, the subject matter serious, and the characters are deep. Even the parents, who are seen through Juno's first person perspective, as is everybody else in the story line, are presented as uncool, yet warm and loving, sometimes in the same scene. There's some great writing here.
A great film, richly acted, well written, and expertly directed.
If you havn't seen it yet, I suggest you do. Or add it to your Netflix list when the time comes. Suitable for parents and teens to watch together, or separately. There is nothing offensive here, unless you are a feminist who can't stand the thought of an abortion clinic losing a client. This is totally non-political, non-moralistic fare,where you can read into it what you wish, or read nothing at all.

This may be the success movie of the year. I heard it only costs about $2.5 million to produce, and has been a big seller to date.

Keep an eye out for the lead actress, Ellen Page. She's destined for the A-list.

5 comments:

Strolling Amok said...

I second the thumbs up. Great flick. I expect big things from both Ellen Page and writer Diablo Cody. And as a (male) pro-choice feminist I can say I had no problem with the film. It's a personal story, not a political one.

Brian said...

Agreed all around. It's a great film, with a superb cast.

Micheal Cera is also crazy talented...so deadpan (did you see Superbad?)

BarnGoddess said...

Ive heard nothing but good things about this movie. Now I really want to see it!

Jade said...

I might have to wait for video on this one... but it looks really good. Thanks for the review!

RobertDWood said...

Good movie.

'Thats one doodle that can't be undiddled homeskillet' is a line I'm still using in conversations.