Juno

This was one of those films that I earnestly resisted just because everybody I knew was gushing about how "cute" it was. Yuck. But then it turned out to get that sort of honorary Best Picture nod that odd films are given by the Academy to acknowledge that everybody seemed to like them... you know, like Little Miss Sunshine last year. And the decidedly different Diablo Cody actually won Best Original Screenplay for the film. sigh. Okay, so I decided to suck one up for the team and watch it. What's an afternoon for the sake of enlightening you, and saving you from the horror yourownself?

SO, Juno is cute. In case you were on Mars or something, this is the story of nine months in the life of Juno MacGuff who finds herself preggers in high school after that one time of recreational sex with her not-boyfriend Bleeker. She wimps out of an abortion and gets on a mission to find the perfect parents for her little bundle of someone else's joy. Now neveryoumind that REAL teenagers don't talk or act like her, REAL parents seldom react to this kind of news in this kind of way and in REAL life, nothing, and I mean nothing, ends up tidily. The movie is cute.


Okay, that was harsh. Even if it is terribly contrived it was entertaining, primarily because of a good cast. Michael Cera was delightful with a complete deer-in-the-headlights sensibility as Bleeker and then of course there's Ellen Page and although she far more deserved a Best Actress nomination for Hard Candy (my review here,) Ellen is a rising star. We'll see more of her, mark my words. See the website here.