#88 - Juno (2007)

Okay, so I decided, after I made the decision to re-watch Up in the Air that I'd make it a Jason Reitman duo and finally watch Juno, a movie I just never happened to get around to, despite its Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, positive press, and the adoration of a lot of my friends.  So let's dive in!

Okay, Diablo Cody's screenplay Oscar must not have been for the dialogue, which comes across as completely perforated and unbelievably.  Truth be told, I was rolling my eyes during the initial phone conversation between newly-pregnant Juno and her BFF.  Phuket, Thailand? Really? Not to mention, the "Ph" is not a diphthong in the pronunciation of the city.  Then Juno pulls out "cavalier" and "fo shizz" within seconds of one another, which while not completely out of the realm of possibility, when combined with talking on her hamburger phone, drinking a gallon of Sunny D, and transporting a living room set to the front lawn of her baby daddy's house so that when he egresses, she, smoking a pipe, and sitting in an armchair next to a lamp and a tiger rug, is the first thing he sees, is obviously trying way too hard.  "Hey, everybody, look how quirky Juno is! She marches to her own drummer!! She's a total original, just like her character writer Diablo Cody!!!"

The whole movie's not a waste, though.  Allison Janney is terrific (as usual) as Juno's stepmother, JK Simmons tones down his curmudgeonliness enough to be more than just tolerable, Jennifer Garner is the perfect foil for Page's rock-solidness as the would-be adopter, and Michael Bluth Jason Bateman is good as her husband, but honestly, could they have given him a stupider job (that shows up stupidly from time to time)?

As long as I'm talking about characters, it really irritates me that Juno is at all times the "heroine" of this movie.  Wait, did we watch the same movie? Juno is often unapologetic, unnecessarily crude, and kind of a bitch.  Pregnancy is not the big excuse this movie seems to be making itself out to be.  But it's all okay because she's carrying an oops.

BTW, 100 things of Tic-Tacs = at least 50 bucks. It's a cute sentiment, though. (Except it's really lame and just one example of the plot being so contrived as to be cloying.  I mean, seriously, enough is enough is enough.)

Yup, it's overblown, unrealistic, and unpolished.  I guess I understand the appeal, but frankly, if I want some Ellen Page action, I'll go watch Inception. Or even Hard Candy.

Oh, and one final word: the score = blech.  Individual songs were sometimes okay, but the score was so intrusive that it was all I could focus on at many points of the movie.  

Score: 6/10