Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Oscar Reviews Part 3: Juno
Yes, this movie is all it's hyped to be.
Funny, witty, charming; and it does these things in ways that are not at all formulaic. Well, OK, maybe the whole approach-retreat romantic plot was a little formulaic, but there's only so many ways to do romantic comedy.
The basic plot, which has been widely advertised by now, involves the trials and tribulations of a very bright, witty pregnant teen girl.
Halifax actress Ellen Page has been rightfully hailed far and wide for her brilliant performance. But the strength of the film rests on solid performances from all the supporting cast. Veteran character actors J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney deserve special recognition for their nuanced performances as Juno's parents. They manage to pull off being both laughable foils and mature, realistic characters with equal aplomb.
While listening to all the witty banter in the film, I had this niggling feeling at the back of my mind that I had heard it somewhere before. It came to me afterwards that Juno and her friend Leah were extremely reminiscent of the main characters in Ghost World, starring Thora Birch and (a much younger) Scarlett Johansson. It would be interesting to watch the two films back to back.
By the way if you haven't yet visited writer Diablo Cody's blog or Myspace page, do so with all due haste. They're a hoot!
I don't buy many movies, only ones I'm pretty sure I want to watch over and over. This will be one of them.
posted by Mentok @ 9:55 a.m.,
7 Comments:
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At 3:18 p.m.,
cchang said...
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I trust your taste, so I may have to check this out. I've heard split reviews amongs my friends. Some really liked it...thought the writing was fantastic. Some flat out hated it thinking the dialog seemed too contrived. I suppose I should see for myself.
I will say I am one of the few people that did not love Atonement. I thought the beginning and end were fabulous and the middle too drawn out and melodromatic. -
At 3:30 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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Oh, much of the dialogue is contrived, for sure. With the possible exception of my oldest son, no teenager could be that witty or be so cued into before-their-time pop-culture references.
But the contrived stuff is so flat out funny and the rest of the story is so endearing that you can easily suspend your disbelief.
Mrs. Mentok also didn't like Atonement. It's the only one of the nominees I haven't seen. She gave it such a bad review that I'm having a hard time willing myself to see it. -
At 4:00 p.m.,
Grumps said...
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I read about the song from the opening credits. It's All I Want To Do by Barry Louis Polisar and it's a hoot. I dled from ITunes.
Sadly, that's about as close as I've gotten to any of the Oscar noms this year. -
At 11:31 p.m.,
Mentok said...
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You should do one of your famous all-day movie binges to catch up. There are some really excellent films this Oscar season.
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At 9:04 a.m.,
Grumps said...
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I did - trouble is all the good movies are only at the Galaxy and I'm not willing to drop $50 or $60 to see a bunch.
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At 8:18 a.m.,
said...
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i just read atonement with my book club and they hated it. it was actually the second time i'd read it and i love it, but then again i'm a sucker for a sad, sad story.
then i saw the film, and i cannot tell you whether it's a good movie or not, because when i've already read the book i can't tell whether the holes/flaws in the movie version are insurmountable because i already know what's going on and can't judge the impact. does that make sense?
i thought it was beautiful and james mcavoy should get some kind of award just for being so cute, but i don't know if it's worthy of best picture.
juno is a wonderful film but i'm not sure oscar will go for a quirky comedy over all the other high drama stuff this year. -
At 9:49 a.m.,
Mentok said...
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mjrc - you'll see from my review above what I thought of Atonement. It sounds like your book club and I are more or less in agreement.
Sadly, you are right about Juno. The Academy rarely awards comedies Best Picture. (Last time was Annie Hall in 1977.) So strong is this prejudice that it really would be best to split the categories - best comedy, best drama - like the Golden Globes does it.
But I expect that will never happen, because the Oscar money machine (not to mention the American psyche) requires that there be one clear indisputable winner to serve as the ultimate focus of the awards.
