Tonight after watching Juno with a packed theater of people, I ended up deciding on something i’ve never thought about doing after leaving a theater: I decided to turn back around away from my car, and proceeded to buy another ticket to watch Juno for a second time.
I just didn’t feel like going home, and felt completely distracted during the entire movie because of the large crowd and the insane amount of “awwws” that were heard each time Michael Cera’s character Paulie Bleeker would say something cute or absurd (which kind of made me feel good inside, being that kind of shy-nerdy type myself). Thankfully, the later show was not as packed and I left the theater ultimately feeling better about having seen Juno, but as I sit here typing – i’m just not really sure if I love it or not. It’s almost like I felt that it was going to be the type of movie where I would see myself laughing at every joke. That definitely wasn’t the case, and what I ended up with was seeing a great movie with equally wonderful characters.
Don’t get me wrong though, Juno is a very smart, sweet film. Incredible performances across the board, with Ellen Page (who i can’t help but be completely in love with at this point) completely obliterating my misconceptions of what a young actress is really capable of. She breathes life into the title character, who I honestly felt really put off with during the beginning, much due in part to the ridiculous dialogue that I felt bogged the first 10-15 minutes of the film. It wasn’t until the scene with the lone protester outside of the abortion clinic (which absolutely killed me), that I felt the film really began to take it’s stride. It’s truly scenes like that along with moments between Juno and her father that will make me smile when I happen to think back on this film.
I think the film I was most reminded of while watching this is Rushmore, not in style, but in the way that both have it’s own unique quirkiness, yet still having very genuinely heartfelt moments throughout. I loved how the film played on a lot of my preconceptions on a few of the characters, and completely reversing my opinions on them in the end. There are a few other things I want to bring up, but that would delve into spoiler territory. Let’s just say that I love the last half hour and I felt the ending scene was perfect in a way that made the entire soundtrack make complete sense to me.
Anyways, it’s almost 2:30 am and i’m really beginning to not make any sense of anything I just typed. For those that have seen Juno, what do you think? Also, I had to post this song because it’s just so unbelievably cute.
“Anyone Else But You” :: Michael Cera and Ellen Page
“Anyone Else But You” :: The Moldy Peaches
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Interesting. I haven’t read any other review of Juno quite like this one, but it sounds like exactly what I felt. I went in thinking it would blow my mind, and instead it sort of just came up and walked along beside me for the hour and a half or so. So, I think that I think it’s great, just not quite what I expected. Anyway, cool, thanks for the review.
I think it’s one reason I wish that small films like this didn’t have a ridiculous amount of hype. It can almost be detrimental. All I heard this week is stuff like this was going to be the next Little Miss Sunshine, bla bla bla.
Also, not enough Michael Cera! He’s pretty much relegated to a site-gag.
I am taking my mom to go see it with me sometime this week. She said she wanted to see it too which I thought was pretty cool of her. I actually haven’t heard too much about it yet.
i can definitely see the first 10-15 minutes of the movie being off putting. that first phone conversation probably gave ‘wtf’ moments to a lot of moviegoers. but i definitely fell in love with the movie, also having watched it twice. the jokes were not laugh out loud hilarious, but funny and smart nonetheless. as you said, the acting was top notch and ellen page did an amazing job. it might not have been the best movie of the year, but it was definitely my favorite because of how enjoyable it was to watch and the feeling i got after walking out at the end of it. loved it.
After sawing the movie, I was surprised to find out that you had not posted anything about the soundtrack yet. This is one of the few times that I saw the movie before you recommended it!
that’s kind of what i thought of it too. but i love the scenes between jason bateman and ellen page.
Great movie. I saw it Sunday night and wanted to stay and watch it a second time, but I was terrified that I wouldn’t enjoy it as much. I have spun the soundtrack three times already, and it’s worth getting just for the “rare” Buddy Holly track.
And unlike the way-overrated “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Little Miss Sunshine,” I didn’t feel that “Juno” drowned in its own quirkiness.
My wife and I went to it last night, and we both really liked it… Personally, I don’t care if dialog is too witty, since if I want some “real conversation” I’ll just go talk to someone, so that didn’t bug me much… especially since, on occasion, the dialog was so spot-on that it was fun just to listen…
In response to Chris, I have to admit I liked both of those movies… but I’ve actually spent some time in Preston, ID, so Napoleon Dynamite had me laughing because of how it was all kind of accurate…
mmm.
i think that.
i haven’t seen the movie. yet.
but.
i just like the way you write.