Dvd
Juno
Juno (Page), is a whip-smart teen confronting an unplanned pregnancy by her classmate Bleeker (Cera). Juno’s hot best friend Leah (Thirlby) helps her find her unborn child a 'perfect' set of parents: a wealthy suburban couple, Mark and Vanessa (Bateman and Garner), who long for a child. Juno’s parents support her through the rollercoaster ride of coming close to adulthood.
Starring Ellen Page, Michael Cera, Jennifer Garner, Jason Bateman, J.K. Simmons, Olivia Thirlby
Directed by Jason Reitman ('Thank You For Smoking')
Written by Diablo Cody
Festivals & Awards Best Original Screenplay at the Academy Awards and BAFTAs in 2008
Comedy, Drama | 1hr 36mins | Rated (M) | Contains Offensive Language | Origin: USA | Official Site »
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Flicks review
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3
Warm, likable, but not nearly as cool as it imagines itself to be, Juno is nevertheless chock full of good performances.
The much celebrated Diablo Cody (former phone-sex operator & stripper) script is worthy of some applause. It's a tight little number, and every character is believable. But it's also as light and fluffy a take on teen pregnancy as you could get. The 'daring' subject matter (for Hollywood anyway) has been packaged up in cheery colours and cutesy camerawork just so Mum can say she saw an 'indie' film.
Director Jason Reitman kind of ruins it a little bit with his regurgitated bag of indie tricks made popular five years ago. The soundtrack lies on the daft end of the indie pop spectrum. Twee vocals and guitar strumming do not equal instant credibility with an alternative crowd. The name dropping that goes on – Sonic Youth is, like, the best band ever – is slightly embarrassing. It makes the filmmakers seem like frauds: pretending they are hip and innovative but craftily stealing from better material, painting over it, and selling it as new.
And as for the character Juno, herself: some will like her, some won't. I found her a smug, smarmy, insufferably obnoxious know-it-all (to give the filmmakers some credit, I merely disliked her by the end). Screenwriter Cody puts such cloyingly self-reflexive dialogue into Juno's mouth that it's initially hard to warm to her.
But the film's major saving grace is that, even if Reitman is lacking in stylistic originality, at least he knows how to get actors working. Ellen Page, as Juno, does a fantastic job, even if the words that come out of her mouth are grating. Jason Bateman is marvelous as a hen-pecked husband, and Jennifer Garner is quite sweet. Michael Cera, as always, steals the show. He is not in this movie enough. He should be. He is great.
But the film is painfully aware of what its purpose is, of what it's trying to achieve. Arriving heavy with hype, Juno is a disappointment to anyone hoping for something great. Juno is well-performed but unremarkable.
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The people's reviews
16 reviews
Press Reviews
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Christchurch Press [Margaret Agnew]
4
1/2 What a great film! I love Juno so much I want to pick up and hug it; it's so heartbreakingly adorable. In this crazy mixed-up world where happily ever-after doesn't exist, teenage girls grow up way too fast and grown men not at all, Juno is a ray of light.
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Dominion Post [Matthew Davis]
4
With all its surprising idiosyncrasies, Juno provides much more than a simple coming-of-age story and while, at times a little too self-conscious for its own good, both the film and Page's Oscar nominations are well-deserved.
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Empire Magazine [UK]
4
A sharp-edged, sweet-centred, warm-hearted coming-of-age movie that’s always just that little bit smarter than you think it is....
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NZ Herald [Francesca Rudkin]
4
Page gives Juno just the right amount of vulnerability and honesty, ensuring she's not just a cynical motormouth, but there isn't a single dud performance. However, the real star is Diablo's script...
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Sunday Star-Times [Barney McDonald]
4
Juno is one of those rare films that you expect little from, but 90 minutes later you walk out of the cinema expecting more from other films because it's so quirky and fresh.
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TV3 [Kate Rodger]
5
Juno is one of those films you can't help telling all your mates about IMMEDIATELY. Its also one of the films which defies genre and target marketing, and isn't easily slotted into a box.
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Variety [USA]
The way the torrents of archly amusing, vocabulary-bending dialogue trip off the tongues of the characters, you know you’re in the hands of some manner of distinctive writer, and she would be Diablo Cody -- a young scribe very handy at shotgunning bright teen quips, as well as catching the attitudes of two distinct types of adults...
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