“Honest to Blog?”

I really should have viewed the film Juno right at the start of its theatrical run and not months after it had navigated what we shall refer to as the “rollercoaster of cool”. When the marketing campaign for the movie ramped up sometime last Fall, I noticed it and was intrigued enough. Though only off the strength of having director Jason Reitman’s name attached, due to his debut film Thank You For Smoking being highly enjoyable. And too a lesser extent, I was happy to see Jason Bateman and Michael Cera paired up in another project (though “paired up” turned out, to my surprise, to be foolish assumption on my part- as they never interact once in the film).

So then the film came out and the internet community (or at least the small section of it that I am involved with) lit up with raves. Adjectives from “amazing” to “wonderful” frequently cluttered message board threads associated with Juno. It was obvious to see that the movie was becoming 2007’s “indie darling”. Like Little Miss Sunshine before it. And it would follow a similar path- a slow build to a substantially impressive box office return and suddenly, a front runner for major awards. However, it’s about here that those two films paths diverged…

The backlash.

Not since everyone seemed to unanimously decide that Dane Cook is not funny has there been a reversal of opinion this large. Those same people who had previously praised Juno for its “delightful quirkiness” were now deriding it for “being so fucking stupid and quirky”.

So why was this? Is it some kind of hipster oath to dislike anything considered “mainstream” or were the people crowning it their “favorite movie, like, ever” just posing in the first place to be the first on the Juno bandwagon? Probably both. Or probably neither. Maybe it’s like the feeling people get when they champion something to help it get to the top and then, once there, that thing turns on the very people who got them there (ie Juno being to “personal” to be up for best picture of the year- wake up, the film doesn’t belong to you).

Kinda like in Mean Girls when Lohan becomes popular and starts stealing Rachel McAdams thunder. What a bitch, right?

Regardless, it was all these things compounded that made me avoid this little wacky pregnancy adventure until last weekend when I found myself out of school for the semester and browsing in Blockbuster video.  And rather than rent the film to judge it on its own merits, I found myself more concerned with seeing just who was right and who was wrong in all those message board threads.

Well, it was basically everyone.

I enjoyed it far more than I expected to and I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that a) I laughed out loud on several occasions while watching it alone and b) I put it on a second time the next day (though to be fair, I was cleaning and just wanted something playing in the background).

The movie is mostly funny, sometimes heartwarming and never drags. But it is simultaneously forgettable. And this is due to the fact that it is essentially “paint by numbers: indie film”.

Quirky, quick witted characters? Check
Cluttered, detail oriented production design? Check
Hand-drawn looking animation somehow integrated? Check
Profound life lessons for all? Check
Annoying as fuck soundtrack? Chiggity Check

Nearly the whole way through, I felt I’d seen it before. Hell, Wes Anderson has made a career out of exactly this kind of film. Though, his dialouge would never so blantantly date a film. In ten years, lines like “For shizz” or the one I chose to title this blog with will probably not have aged all too well. In fact, you can click here and wonder with me how this script got made seeing as most of the dialouge seems ridiculous on paper. Luckily, it’s the direction and performances that make it work (for the most part- the “no, this is Morgan Freeman, do you have any bones that need collecting?” type lines still strikes me as trying way too hard).

There’s also a number of plot lines that seem mishandled. Namely, Juno and baby daddy Michael Cera’s character. Aside from how laughable it is that his family never finds out that he is the father, I never felt the connection between these two people- even though the movie apparently really wanted me to (like seriously, listen to the words in the super annoying songs!). Sadly, this seems to have been sacrificed in favor of an oddly inappropriate connection between Juno and Jason Bateman.

But I’m doing that same bullshit I mentioned earlier and I’m nitpicking. Like I said, it was a nice little movie and I could, at this point, only dream of creating something that appears to have touched so many people.

So, on that note, I’d like to address a complaint I frequently heard during the movie’s run that’s simply note true… “All the characters are identical and talk the same”…

…not so much. Sure, Juno and her friends share the same kind of wit- but I’m wagering so do you and your circle of friends. The characters who stood out to me were Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner’s adoptive couple. Bateman did a pretty fantastic job of giving away his character’s apprehensiveness and although Garner’s character’s foaming-at-the-mouth want for a kid seems slightly overstated, there’s something about the scene where she handles the baby for the first time that killed me. Her encounter with Juno in the mall might also be the movie’s high point.

There’s obviously a degree of “who cares” at this point concerning my opinion on this movie seeing as how it’s moment is long gone and we can all now anxiously await this year’s version.

Speaking of, Michael Cera can next be seen in Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist… opening October 3rd.