Juno Review

There's no doubt that by this time you've already heard plenty about this flick, it's already grossed almost 100 million and become one of 2007's biggest successes. So the question remains, "is it really as good as everyone says?" I guess that would depend on who you ask. While praise has been all over the place for Juno, there has also been a noticeable backlash against the movie. Most of the negative talk is in regards to the dialogue, which is drenched in pop-culture references aimed mostly at the indie-art crowd.

The movie is basically the story of 16 year old Juno played by Ellen Page (Hard Candy, X-Men: The Last Stand) who gets pregnant by a shy, awkward boy named Paulie Bleeker (Micheal Cera) and how she deals with the unplanned pregnancy. She winds up finding a couple to possibly adopt the baby in the Penny Saver classifieds of all places. The couple, played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman, are desperate to have a family and Juno is only more than happy to give them her baby.

I had an unusual experience in seeing Juno in the theater since the power went out about 30 minutes into the movie and we had to leave. Though the part I had seen was pretty funny and enjoyable. We returned the following night to see the movie again from the beginning. At that point, my opinion shifted somewhat towards the movie. At second viewing, the jokes weren't anywhere near as clever and became somewhat annoying. The feeling continued somewhat throughout the rest of the movie. I also found the inappropriate relationship between Bateman and Page to be incredibly uncomfortable to watch. This is also where some of Juno's charm started to wear off. The girl who is witty enough to lob insults and reference people I've never heard of should be smart enough to see what's going on and she clearly isn't. It doesn't completely ruin the movie, but it does make it hard to really care about or believe in her character.

What is good about the movie is its great supporting cast. In particular, Micheal Cera's (Arrested Development, Superbad) charcter and Juno's father, played by J.K. Simmons (Spider-Man, OZ) who both provide the movies' best characters and performances. Cera's "deer caught in headlights" look he often uses is absolutely hilarious.

Overall, the movie had me divided on whether or not I liked it as much as I was wanting to. I couldn't help but feel old and uncool watching someone who had seemingly unlimited amounts of cool at their disposal. Though, I guess it wouldn't be as interesting movie without it.

Heath Ledger 1979-2008

Very shocking and sad news today as Academy Award nominated actor Heath Ledger was found dead in his New York apartment at the age of 28. It's not entirely clear as to the cause of death at this time.


Ledger has most recently co-starred in "I'm Not There", along with a handful of other actors/actresses portraying Bob Dylan in different stages of his life.




I had been very excited to see Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker in this summer's "The Dark Knight". Judging from the trailer, it looks to be an outstanding performance. Most of the film has been finished with only some post production remaining, though it's hard to tell how this will affect the movie if any re-shoots are required.

Ledger was also filming a new movie with director Terry Gilliam and it's unknown at this point how that film will be affected.


For more detailed information on this story, read the New York Times article here. My condolences go out to his friends and family.