Juno

2007 comedy

Rating: 12/20 (Jen: 18/20)

Plot: Michael Cera is at it again, running around like a perverse sex fiend and impregnating our little girls. He's knocked up the title character, an eccentric and free-thinking sixteen year old. This development looks like it could ruin her life, a life spent mostly hanging out with Michael Cera and her annoying best friend who (plot hole!) for some reason nobody kills by the end of the movie. Juno eventually decides to give the baby up for adoption and finds a suitable wealthy couple. She becomes attached to the prospective adoptive father who, like her, enjoys horror movies and music. Then she gets bigger and bigger and bigger and tries to sort out her emotions about Michael Cena, parenting, the adoptive parents, and love. Meanwhile, Michael Cena runs around looking for another little girl's life to ruin.

Well, this was cutesy. Cutesy dialogue, cutesy Juno, cutesy Jason Bateman, cutesy soundtrack. The script sort of zings along as if the characters had been practicing it for months. The characters are mostly easy enough to like, even the character who is supposed to be the bad one. The story is a bit too predictable and the story-telling too traditional, but this Judd Apatow clone actually works better than Superbad, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and Knocked Up. Probably because the human, more mature side (the "soul" part) doesn't seem forced. This didn't seem realistic to me, and I should know since I was once a sixteen year old who was impregnated by Michael Cera. Although I did like a lot of the individual songs (Moldy Peaches, Bowie, Kinks, Belle and Sebastian, lots by the female half of the Moldy Peaches), I got tired of the pattern of dialogue, loud cutesy song, more dialogue, loud cutesy song, more dialogue, loud cutesy song, etc.

I can't wait for that Arrested Development movie.

I took this picture with my feet!