Directed by: Jason ReitmanStarring: Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, Allison Janney, J.K. Simmons, Rainn Wilson
Running Time: 1h 36min
Every year a film gets labelled as the little indie that could. Often these films are good, less than often they're great, and more than likely, they're over hyped. Past entries holding this title include The Blair Witch Project, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and last year's Little Miss Sunshine. You can determine if these films lived up to all their accolades.
This year's critical fave that's finding audiences is Juno. Quirky, as all teen indies seem to be. Fresh, in approach and candor. Witty, in dialogue and character. Juno is a sparkling achievement on many levels. Let's examine the elements that are getting the most attention.
Ellen Page, in the lead role, has garnered many nominations and much praise, all of it well deserved. She inhabits the pregnant teen with all the emotions and reactions you'd expect from a child thrust into a decision way beyond her years. Yet, unlike we've come to expect from teens in movies, Page's turn as Juno is well rounded, played for laughs, tears, anger and pity. She offers us the sarcasm, cynicism, fear, angst, sadness, and joy that would certainly arise from her situation. Stunningly, she shifts through these emotions effortlessly and authentically. The statement could be made, without Page there is no Juno.
Still, much of what makes Juno work so well is the script. Diablo Cody is being hailed as the new voice of women in film. She infuses the movie of the week plot line with a blend of hip teen speak that seems so now, in danger of being outdated tomorrow, yet set into scenes that seem timeless. Frankly, the movie could have quickly derailed from the opening Napoleon Dynamite credits, as the first 10 minutes scream, "I'm quirky! I'm hip! I'm edgy! I'm now! Listen to the way I speak! So catchphrasy and cool! I'm this year's Napoleon Dynamite!". I had already felt duped into seeing this year's overrated phenom.
Then something slowly transpires. The flashy hipness gives way to honesty and an inescapable sense that this story could almost take place anywhere (and is probably happening right now as you read this.) The deft cast bring a range that allows the film to go beyond teen melodrama. Bateman, Garner, Simmons, and Janney are all fantastic in supporting roles, fleshing out their characters in a way that makes us believe these adults have lives beyond their interaction with the lead teen. They ground the teen world and offer an interesting contrast and speculation about maturity and decision making.
Yet all this fabulous work owes it's grand success to the direction of Reitman. In less nuanced hands, this film could have gone too far in one direction. It could have ignored the enormity of the central dilemma to keep it light hearted and funny. It could have missed the humour in the adult relationships in order to keep them as fixtures of oddity in the gaze of the teens. Sure, there are some great lines and a wonderful tone, but by Reitman's direction, none of the script's pleasures are missed, while so much is added through a filmed reaction or a lingering close up, conveying so much without the strength of Cody's words. He takes a solid film, and brings it to a new level, crafting a film that's sure to be remembered, long after the indie engine push has passed.
Grade: A
