Juno

Hello, my name is Dylan and I will be kicking off this brand new blog in style by reviewing the most recent movie that I have seen in theaters, Juno. I was not able to see Juno until a few weeks after it had been released, so I already knew about its lofty rating on rottentomatoes and I also knew that Roger Ebert had deemed it his favorite film of 2007. Because of the aforementioned factors I went into the movie with pretty high expectations.

I am happy to say that Juno fully lived up to my expectations and was a wonderful movie. There are so many great things about the movie, but my favorite part was the performance of Ellen Page as Juno, the sixteen-year old girl who is accidentally impregnated by her friend. She did an outstanding job making the role of Juno really come alive to the audience. Her performance was refreshing to say the least. The supporting roles, led by Micheal Cera as her friend Beaker and Allison Janney as her stepmother, were also very strong. Janney almost always provided a laugh during the limited time that she was on screen and Cera played the role of the dorky guy who has a crush on the girl to a T.

The writer of Juno, Diablo Cody, did a fine job on the script and is up for many awards because of it. The script really made Juno's situation feel very real and believable, as if it could have just as easily happened to someone that you know. This is important to an audience because it allows you to become more emotionally attached to the movie. However, my only small negatives regarding this movie are because of the script. I have two small problems. Numeber 1, I know that the language used by Juno is supposed to be "hip" and whatnot, but I just feel like Cody went a bit overboard with the "hip" language because it sort of takes the audience out of the movie because they can not comprehend some of the words that are coming out of the characters' mouths. I mean, I'm 17 years old, and I still could not understand some of that "hip" language. My other problem with the script is the outrageous amount of rock and pop culture knowledge that Juno possessed. While I do understand that it adds to the character, I feel like the movie would have been a little better if the vast amount of pop culture references would have been toned down just a little bit.

All in all, I truly enjoyed Juno. I would recommend it to anyone who is tired of seeing the same old popcorn movies every week. It was a romantic and funny movie that appeals to all ages. With outstanding acting, a good script, and not to a mention a really a great soundtrack, Juno is a really good movie that will surely cause you to leave the theater with a big smile on your face.

FINAL RATING: 8/10