Ryan McNeil
Seldom do I walk into a movie blind. Hell, seldom do I walk in blurry, let alone blind. I know plot details, actors’ work, directors’ credits, etc…and all of it plays some part in how badly I want to spend a few of my hours watching a movie. It’s a blessing and a curse really. So imagine my preconceptions coming into JUNO…
I thought about the fact that director Jason Reitman’s previous film THANK YOU FOR SMOKING was a shark-toothed satire. I thought of the dry humour that stars Michael Cera and Jason Bateman have become known for thanks to three seasons of Arrested Development. I thought about all the quirky characters that supporting actors Allison Janney and J.K. Simmons have played over the years. I was pretty sure I had my expectations in check – fairly certain of amusement and enjoyment. I believe in admitting this sort of thing, so I want to emphasize it:
I was wrong.
JUNO is nothing like the film I expected it to be – it is tremendously better.
Juno herself is played by Ellen Page. The film opens as she discovers that at sixteen years old, she’s about to have a baby. I’d say that the pregnancy is the result of a one night stand, but that’s not really the case. Call it a hybrid of a one night stand, friends with benefits, and a mercy fuck with Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera). Juno stays remarkably calm through the “what am I going to do” phase, and eventually decides to give the baby up for adoption to a couple played by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner.
As Vanessa, Garner plays the sort of woman who follows Better Homes and Garden like it was scripture. Bateman meanwhile, plays Mark as a guy who’s just happy to be there…the sort of person who is content that he has been given one room in the whole house for “his stuff”. It’s an odd marital dynamic, but one that Juno understands is light years better for her baby than what she can provide.
At one point, Juno mentions to Paulie that he’s the coolest guy she knows, and that he doesn’t even have to try. Slightly ashamed, Paulie confesses that he actually tries really hard. That little exchange sums up JUNO as a film pretty well. It starts out as a clever comedy, but slowly turns into a sweet little love story about husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, lovers and friends. It seems like a seamless and effortless transition, but in truth it takes a lot of patience and effort in film making.
I fear that before long, this review will just turn into one 500-word love letter to writer Diablo Cody, so let me talk a bit about the writing. The story itself is a tender one, and a story that doesn’t take any of the very convenient off-ramps. What made the writing really snap was the fact that every character had a witty-but-not-too-witty speech pattern, and each pattern suited each character perfectly. I mentioned in my initial reaction after The Toronto International Film Festival, that while each character seemed to have a slightly overly clever streak, they were still talking in a believable way. Cody has hit the dialogue on the sweet spot between cute and clever, which gives the plot legs it might not have otherwise had.
At first I was intrigued that director Jason Reitman would choose this as his follow-up to THANK-YOU FOR SMOKING, since the two films are so very different. But as I look at the two stories, I notice a similarity I hadn’t noticed before. While nobody will likely confuse Juno MacGuff with Nick Naylor, both films are primarily a one-man-show, with a large array of supporting players that form a sort of supergroup back up band. It’s an interesting dynamic that has worked well for Reitman twice in a row now. JUNO feels greater than the sum of its parts, and Reitman has done an admirable job of conducting this sublime symphony.
I couldn’t recommend JUNO any higher, but realize that in doing so, I’m depriving anyone who reads this of the surprise I was lucky enough to experience. That cool moment akin to finding a $20 bill in the cushions of your couch. But I guess that’s why I’m doing the writing, and you are doing the reading. I see the crap so you don’t have to – but it works both ways. So before I say too much and spoil the surprise, go see JUNO. You’ll thank me later.