Juno
The first thing that came to my mind watching this is that Diablo Cody had to be a LOCK for winning Best Original Screenplay. The sharply written dialogue is the star of this film, and nearly every phrase that comes out of Ellen Page’s mouth is a joy to hear. While many would argue that real teens don’t talk like that, Page deftly sells it with her natural charisma, and while she did lose out for Best Actress, there is clearly a sign of better things to come for her as an actress. As for the others, Allison Janney is adequate as her stepmother (with the big telloff to the ultrasound tech being her key scene), Jason Bateman is likable as the surrogate father-to-be (the bonding scenes with her and Juno are well done), and Jennifer Garner does the best acting of her career as his wife. It’s amazing what Garner can do when she’s not given overemoting monologues like on Alias and is allowed to give a subtler performance. Then there’s J.K. Simmons, who rocks the house as Juno’s dad, always coming up with great lines at the most opportune times, and very touching when he’s being supportive as well. Unfortunately the film suffers from a distinct lact of chemistry between Page and Michael Cera in the underdeveloped role of Bleecker. For all the importance of his character to the plot he really doesn’t have much to do (and why some people think he’s cool and funny because he wears a goofy jogging outfit is a mystery to me). The only time Cera connects with the audience is when he and Page are hanging out in his room and he matter-of-factly tells her that she’s the greatest girl in the world. In addition the story falters towards the end due to a fateful decision by the Bateman character which seems tacked on to add a bittersweet element to the story. The film never quite recovers from this, and limps to its ending. When all’s said and done though, Page, Simmons, Garner and the dialogue still manage to make this a fine, above average effort…
8/10