Basic Story and Introduction.
If you occasionally go outside, or watch something besides your computer screen, you'll probably have heard someone or seen something talking about Juno, the story of a pregnant 16-year-old girl named after the Roman Goddess of the same name (for some kind of metaphorical reason I've forgotten). Starring Ellen Page, a fairly new actress to the film industry (excluding TV movies) and Michael Cera, best known for his role in Superbad, Juno tells the tale of your typically "unique" misunderstood teenager in American suburbia who, after a steamy night with one of her best friends, ends up pregnant. You follow her as she struggles to make a decision regarding the child's future and the subsequent problems that follow after she's made her choice. The plot isn't altogether that complicated.
The Characters.
I arrived at my local cinematorium thinking I was about to see a brilliantly witty film and I wasn't disappointed. FOX Searchlight seem to actually be doing something right. After all, they brought us Superbad, Eagle vs Shark and Napolean Dynamite, three of the greatest modern, low-budget films in existance (excluding Napolean Dynamite, see post below). These films tend to pander to the geeky, love-is-awkward audience but Juno's moving more towards neutrality. Ellen Page's creation is one of the funniest and genuinely intelligent characters I've ever seen in a film. She is the voice of youth, a young woman stuck in a teenager's body yet still remaining immature and unphased when confronted with extreme pessimism.
Michael Cera's character, Paulie Bleeker, was far less interesting. He was essentially a more athletic, shy version of the character he played in Superbad and despite being the father of Juno's child, he rarely makes an extended appearance throughout.
Among the extra characters, including Juno's best friend, Juno's parents and the parents adopting Juno's child, little can be said of them. They're really only used as extras, used to advance the storyline along and reveal more about Juno. Some interesting relationships develop, but we're only given a hint or two about the less important ones. For example, the relationship between the adopting parents is deteriorating and we can clearly see from the moment we meet them, that the husband is frustrated with his wife's attitude towards him. The husband is probably the more important minor character, as he interests Juno and sort of plays the part of a surrogate husband/boyfriend figure for her as she proceeds through pregnancy.
The Humour.
Juno occasionally narrates parts of the story, at the beginning at the end. They use a kinda of oddly irrelevant way to connect the start and the end, or the conception and the birth, but it makes sense, I suppose. There's also a fairly great part where she is caught in a trance, watching the local cross country running team (which Paulie is a part of) run by in slow motion and refers to their cocks as 'Pork Swords'. I don't know about you, but that analogy will stay with me forever.
The title sequence is pretty great, with a well animated coloured cutout of Juno walking through her town with what can only be described as a canister of Sunny D to that kind of folky music usually attributed with this kind of independent film.
The movie's also very bold, within about the first fifteen minutes, there's a shot of Juno and Paulie right before the act of lurrvvvv where she basically takes her panties down to her ankles and walks forward a bit, not that exciting, but for the more sexually suppressed of us and for those of us who have lost our virginity's, it provides a cheap laugh (at the awkwardness) or a quick sexual thrill (at the tasty ankles). Also, we're treated to the site of Juno peeing on a pregnancy test in the toilet of her local pharmacy/convenience story. For the more immature of us, these small moments provide a cheap laugh.
I could go on listing the various amusing moments, like her step mother insulting the ultrasound technician or the crazy goth ***** at the reception of the abortion clinic talking about her boyfriends pie-flavoured dick, but I wont.
The Moral of the Story.
I wont ruin the ending, but the moral rolls around when there's a crisis between two of the minor characters. Juno loses faith in mankind and relationships and is given a heartwarming speech about love and life. She makes a shocking realisation. Happy endings are had by all.
Recommendation: If you have the money and the time, it's worth watching. Just don't take your new girlfriend to see it.
If you occasionally go outside, or watch something besides your computer screen, you'll probably have heard someone or seen something talking about Juno, the story of a pregnant 16-year-old girl named after the Roman Goddess of the same name (for some kind of metaphorical reason I've forgotten). Starring Ellen Page, a fairly new actress to the film industry (excluding TV movies) and Michael Cera, best known for his role in Superbad, Juno tells the tale of your typically "unique" misunderstood teenager in American suburbia who, after a steamy night with one of her best friends, ends up pregnant. You follow her as she struggles to make a decision regarding the child's future and the subsequent problems that follow after she's made her choice. The plot isn't altogether that complicated.
The Characters.
I arrived at my local cinematorium thinking I was about to see a brilliantly witty film and I wasn't disappointed. FOX Searchlight seem to actually be doing something right. After all, they brought us Superbad, Eagle vs Shark and Napolean Dynamite, three of the greatest modern, low-budget films in existance (excluding Napolean Dynamite, see post below). These films tend to pander to the geeky, love-is-awkward audience but Juno's moving more towards neutrality. Ellen Page's creation is one of the funniest and genuinely intelligent characters I've ever seen in a film. She is the voice of youth, a young woman stuck in a teenager's body yet still remaining immature and unphased when confronted with extreme pessimism.
Michael Cera's character, Paulie Bleeker, was far less interesting. He was essentially a more athletic, shy version of the character he played in Superbad and despite being the father of Juno's child, he rarely makes an extended appearance throughout.
Among the extra characters, including Juno's best friend, Juno's parents and the parents adopting Juno's child, little can be said of them. They're really only used as extras, used to advance the storyline along and reveal more about Juno. Some interesting relationships develop, but we're only given a hint or two about the less important ones. For example, the relationship between the adopting parents is deteriorating and we can clearly see from the moment we meet them, that the husband is frustrated with his wife's attitude towards him. The husband is probably the more important minor character, as he interests Juno and sort of plays the part of a surrogate husband/boyfriend figure for her as she proceeds through pregnancy.
The Humour.
Juno occasionally narrates parts of the story, at the beginning at the end. They use a kinda of oddly irrelevant way to connect the start and the end, or the conception and the birth, but it makes sense, I suppose. There's also a fairly great part where she is caught in a trance, watching the local cross country running team (which Paulie is a part of) run by in slow motion and refers to their cocks as 'Pork Swords'. I don't know about you, but that analogy will stay with me forever.
The title sequence is pretty great, with a well animated coloured cutout of Juno walking through her town with what can only be described as a canister of Sunny D to that kind of folky music usually attributed with this kind of independent film.
The movie's also very bold, within about the first fifteen minutes, there's a shot of Juno and Paulie right before the act of lurrvvvv where she basically takes her panties down to her ankles and walks forward a bit, not that exciting, but for the more sexually suppressed of us and for those of us who have lost our virginity's, it provides a cheap laugh (at the awkwardness) or a quick sexual thrill (at the tasty ankles). Also, we're treated to the site of Juno peeing on a pregnancy test in the toilet of her local pharmacy/convenience story. For the more immature of us, these small moments provide a cheap laugh.
I could go on listing the various amusing moments, like her step mother insulting the ultrasound technician or the crazy goth ***** at the reception of the abortion clinic talking about her boyfriends pie-flavoured dick, but I wont.
The Moral of the Story.
I wont ruin the ending, but the moral rolls around when there's a crisis between two of the minor characters. Juno loses faith in mankind and relationships and is given a heartwarming speech about love and life. She makes a shocking realisation. Happy endings are had by all.
Recommendation: If you have the money and the time, it's worth watching. Just don't take your new girlfriend to see it.
