Juno

The adorkable Ellen Page, previously unknown, stars in a very sweet movie, written by an ex-stripper.

I kept hearing about Juno in my hip toronto free newspapers so i finally decided to see it with my hip toronto friend. and unless you only like explosion movies, i think it's hard to be disappointed.

The movie revolves around an accidental teen pregnancy between Juno and her best friend Paulie (played by Arrested Development's Micheal Cera). It doesn't really revolve around the stress of teen pregnancy so much as Juno's quick wit and carefree attitude. After deciding against an abortion , she decides to give the baby up for adoption to a pleasant looking couple played by Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman (also from AD).
There's not a whole lot i can say without spoiling the plot, or just not doing it justice.

As far as what i liked and didn't like, The thing that really stands out is that pretty much all of the main characters are likeable, at least during some part of the movie. And honestly, I've never heard a theater laugh harder at the delivery. Ellen Page got some pretty "with-it" writers to pen her script, and she's rolling off jokes throughout the movie.

Which brings me to pretty much the only thing i didn't like about it, which is that she kiiind of tries hard. Right at the beginning she's aying stuff like "Silencio old man!" and that kind of stuff to the cocky pharmacist selling her her BC test, and you're like "that was cute but is the whole thing like this" and it kind of. fortunately she is funny a good 80% of the time and you will probably laugh.

Like honestly i liked the lead the least in the whole movie, and i liked the lead alot. so.


See it if:
you liked shit like the life aquatic, Junebug, Napoleon Dynamite (when it first came out, not after everyone doesnt shut up about everything in it) and little miss sunshine

Don't see it if:
you liked Van Hellsing come on man

Overall I am giving it an 8/10. it is for sure in my top ten
 
loved it, too. very funny and solid all the way through; ellen page is adorable and michael cera is typecast but funny. no country for old men and this come top 2 for my 2008 best picks.
 
I was saddened that Michael Cera didn't get more screen time. It was mainly just Ellen Page rattling off witty line after witty line (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, she was awesome). It was good but not great.
 
i didn't really mind, michael cera is too typecast anyway. he could get no character development and we'd still identify with the one character he plays in every single movie.
 
since I am in Toronto and I occasionally peer into the hip Toronto newspapers, I have of course heard of this hip movie. But now that the hip users of smogon can confirm it is good, i think i will see it with some hip Toronto friends!
 
perhaps the same hip toronto friends of gormenghast?

I really want to see this, but I don't have many friends into this kind of movie. My ex was but. We're exes. I have a friend back in st louis who'll see it with me so I'm holding out for it to stay in theatres until then.
 
I just came back from the theaters...

Juno wasn't a bad movie. I agree with the OP's comments on Ellen Page. Her wit and all was pretty funny, but for some reason, I felt it was a little forced. She is quite cute though.

I did however, feel Michael Cera's role could have been better. Sure the romance was nice and all, but I felt something missing in his character. Perhaps because I'm use to Superbad-Michael Cera?

The movie had it's laughs and moments (though one part is a tad creepy...) and you do get something out of it, which is a plus in my books.

Overall, I agree with what people are saying: It's funny. I'm hesitant to say it's the funniest movie of 2007, but it stands out.
 
i enjoyed it thoroughly, but i agree about ellen page's lines seeming a bit forced at times. besides that, the dialogue was excellent, i especially loved the awkward 'no we should make out, lah lah lah' comment from cera. fucking gold.

ellen page is becoming a favourite of mine, anyone who hasnt seen hard candy and likes weird indie shit probably should. its a really creepy and disturbing movie, and page is unbelievably good. she plays a young girl who gets lured into a meetup by an internet pedophile, but REALLY shes luring him so she can torture him and shit. really intense.

also the kimya dawson-heavy soundtrack really confused me ? _? i felt less folk-punk knowing that a buncha squares saw this movie and are probably downloading moldy peaches shit as we speak!!!!! i enjoyed being probably the only person in the theatre (yes my girlfriend is sorta square) to get the paul baribeau name drop in the first few minutes of the movie

oh and yes im fucking elitist

edit: oh also the romantic element involving juno and the adoptive father-to-be seemed way too unexplored, but i guess that made it exciting! when they were slow dancing i was straight up cringing, that shit was awkward

and speaking of awkward the ultrasound scene made me shudder cause i got tested for testicular cancer and holy FUCK they rub that cold slimy shit all over your nuts and oh man is it awkward and cold and uncomfortable fuck i dont want to talk about it
 
I just saw it last night and I enjoyed it. To quote a guy my girlfriend and I ran into before hand: "You'll like it, it's funny. It's funny and cute." The movie seemed to be just the right length.. any longer and I would have lost interest and any shorter and I would have felt they could have added more. Funny, but not overly funny.. I wouldn't really call it a comedy but there's really nothing else to call it. I enjoyed a lot of the music, both references and soundtrack. Belle & Sebastian making TWO appearances musically during the movie was cool and now I'll be on a kick for the next week. Kimya Dawson was a bit overdone but then I've always been more of an Adam Green fan and very selective on my Moldy Peaches tracks.

In general, though, this movie was sort of a creepy blast from the past for me. I was a runner in high school and weirdly enough those were our school colors and we always ran in a stupid looking pack like that (He even ran in the 800m at the end which was my race!). Juno's character was very similar to a girl I liked in high school and of course I was the awkward guy. I even ended up asking some other bitch to prom because I thought she (the girl I liked) didn't want to go with me. Just some weird coincidences that reminded me of a few years ago. But then, I think that's what all good movies and stories in general.. attempt to make you feel connected with the protagonists.
 
I saw this movie last Friday, and overall I hate to say it but I wasn't very impressed with it. Like some other people have said, Page's dialogue (not to mention character) can seem very forced at some points, and while I certainly enjoyed the one joke about that one girl's face (who always looks like she's glaring at Page's character) the overall movie didn't seem realistic enough to me. I mean seriously, why the fuck wasn't she being insulted more for being a pregnant teen? All she got were dirty looks from other students, that's honestly just... ignorant of real life. It would've made the story, and her character in general SO much more likeable, because despite all this shit she's getting, she still has that awesome personality.

I'd rate it as "slightly dissapointing", but still worth watching once for the humour.
 
Hahahaha Glen I'm with you on that elitist note. Much as I love Jason Bateman I totally wanted to scoff at him (though mostly at Ellen Page and her irrational Sonic Youth hate >:O ).

I didn't find the movie particularly funny or witty, which was disappointing. I didn't find it had a great story and didn't have any sort of message. What it did have was a great cast with great acting.

I've been describing it as a very cute movie. It reminded me quite a bit of my twee phase. Also, it should be noted that the best joke in the movie was the subtle reference to Arrested Development in that Jason Bateman's character lived in the Glacial Valley subdivision (as opposed to Sudden Valley from AD).

Of course, it mostly just reminded me of my ex who had a pregnancy scare and for that I was disappointed in how they treated Michael Cera's character. There was a really great spot where he first learns and is just utterly speechless, but they totally eliminated all of the stress and sleepless nights that I had and I'm sure Michael Cera's character would have gone through. But I suppose the focus is just on Juno as a character and I can appreciate it for what it is.

But not one of my favorites.
 
I saw it friday, and everything that needs to be said has been said. Its cute and feelgood, but it will also make you laugh.

If you go in expecting superbad though you will be disappointed, the focus is actually more on plot than being fall-out-of-your-chair funny.
 
Like others have said, it was a cute little movie that tried too hard at times but was otherwise good. It was definitely satisfying, and I don't feel as though I wasted my money. I do feel as though I missed some of the music references though.
 
I liked the soundtrack particularly, this movie introduced me to Kimya Dawson's solo stuff!
 
I saw it a couple of weeks ago (my local movie theater gets new releases very late). I enjoyed it immensely. The writing was great; the dialogue felt natural and there were some good punchlines (I especially liked "Thundercats are GO!!!"). The characters were distinctive and enjoyable to watch, especially Juno, who came to life onscreen thanks to Ellen Page.

The thing I liked most about it though was that it was a feel-good movie, at least to me.

EDIT: Jesus. These posts are old. Sorry for bumping.
 
I originally wrote a much longer post but here are my thoughts in a nutshell:

~Juno is, to me, a stereotypical hipster "indie kid" and these types aggravate me
~all the elements of a typical Zach Braff movie, --Shins ++Kimya Dawson
~speaking of, Kimya Dawson personifies this movie: good for about 3.5 minutes but the "cutesy-clever-awkward" thing gets real old real quick
~tries waaaaayyyyyyy too hard to be cool
 
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