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TIFF! Copernicus Is Dazzled By Jason Reitman’s JUNO!
Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here.
I thought Jason Reitman’s first film, THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, was a nice adaptation of a blisteringly wicked book. Didn’t love the film, but I thought it worked okay, and it seemed like Reitman had some real promise.
Has he fulfilled that promise with this film? That certainly seems to be what the word out of Toronto is, and it also marks a real arrival for screenwriter Diablo Cody, whose script is already being talked about as a possible Academy Award contender. I’m dying to see Michael Cera do more great work this year, and this one can’t hit theaters soon enough for me:
JUNO is *the* buzz film of Toronto this year. It is the one thing that seemingly everyone agrees on. My review has been a few days coming because I've been watching movies non-stop, and I can't figure out a way to write about it without seeming like a gushing idiot. That's OK, I might as well be one of the early JUNO fanboys, because this isn't just a cult movie, it is an instant classic. It has a kind of magic to it that you can't find by following a formula, or you couldn't have predicted ahead of time. At the screening I attended it got a standing ovation, one of two I have seen so far (the other was SLEUTH, which I will review later).
First, the premise -- Juno is a sixteen year-old, brilliantly played by Ellen Page, who gets knocked up with the spawn of Michael Cera of SUPERBAD fame (here playing classmate Paulie Bleeker), after an afternoon of chair-sex. Juno takes it all in stride, as though she's built her own little universe that she's going to float through mostly carefree, relying on her wit and wisecracks melt or stupefy everyone she meets. Juno ultimately has to reveal her situation to her dad played by J. K. Simmons, who abolutely kills. J.K. Simmons should be automatically signed on to play the dad of every daughter in every comedy from here on in. Alison Janney is equally brilliant as Juno's stepmom, and gets to show off her comic timing with some sweet zingers. Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner are the prospective adoptive parents, and while they don't have as many of the comedy beat, they each get a chance to show some depth to their characters.
This is Jason Reitman's follow-up to THANK YOU FOR SMOKING, he has proven he's every bit as gifted as his father, Ivan. From the distinctive music to the animated titles to the shots and pacing, everything works together to create what seems like its own almost-surreal, but kind of grounded world. It is a world where everyone is clever, where sweatbanded high-school running teams parade their junk past the camera in slow-motion, where recliners double as lawn furniture, where the phones are shaped like food, and where Rainn Wilson works at the convenience store and lectures you on "pee sticks." The Junoverse is as distinctive and quirky as a Wes Anderson film.
In recent years with shows like CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM and THE OFFICE, you might say uncomfortable is the new funny. But with movies like SUPERBAD and JUNO, sweet raunch is the new trend. In many ways, JUNO feels like the flip side to SUPERBAD -- it focuses on the girl's side of the teen hook-up equation, and more on family dynamics than buddy hijinks, but the tone is the same -- light, breezy, peppered with dick-vag jokes, and just a dash of seriousness when the characters need to grow.
So much of the credit goes to first-time screenwriter, Diablo Cody. She's an absolute genius, the kind of writer you notice and want to see everything else she does. The dialog is so punchy, and it comes so rapid-fire, that I missed a lot of lines because the audience was laughing so hard. In fact, the one piece of criticism I've heard of the movie is that the characters almost seem *too* witty – each character always has the perfect comeback. But that's just another way of saying that Diablo Cody has style -- her script seems unmistakably her own. Just as Tarantino has distinctive crime dialog, and Woody Allen's self-effacing observations on adult relationships are unmistakable, Cody has proven that she is the ninja master of teen-teen, and teen-parent wisecracks. When Reitman was introducing Cody at the screening he said there are few times in your life when you remember the first time you discovered some a rare talent, but we would all remember that day as the day we all discovered Diablo Cody. The audience was in complete agreement. And, to top it off, at the Q&A she was dressed in a t-shirt with a faded superman logo, a red miniskirt, and knee-socks!
But in addition to Reitman and Cody, a huge share of the credit has to go to Ellen Page. Juno as a character carries a movie with such charisma and presence as we have not seen since Ferris Bueller. At the Q&A, it was clear that she has a personality every bit quick-witted and commanding as the character she played. She was under-used in X-MEN 3, but when this hits there are going to be all kinds of geek fantasies about a Kitty Pride spinoff.
Come Christmas, JUNO thing is going to rock the hell out of the box office, because it seems to play well to both men and women of all age groups, from teens to octogenarians. I can't wait to see it again.
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This played at the Telluride Film Festival two weeks ago and we, no lie, had to turn away two hundred people every time it screened. Surprise hit of the festival.
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Funniest comedy in forever
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Sep 12, 2007 11:36:53 PM CDT
"...every bit as gifted as his father, Ivan..."!!???
by will not reply to your post
Say what? Ivan Reitman is definitely NOT known as a gifted director despite the hit films he HAS directed. He is known for surrounding himself with very clever writers and, most importantly, ACTORS. In fact, I seem to remember Ebert exclaiming in a review that Reitnman has absolutely no style to his direction. That said, the guy is mainly a great producer because he knows who to hire.
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The director of TYFS, actors from Arrested Development, West Wing and Oz? I'm so there.
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what a frightening image. Funny though... Im going to create a hip pen name too. Good review. Looking forward to this one now that I know of its existence. Still, I hope it doesnt work out for Diablo so she will in fact go right back to the pole. By the way, I respect all of you.
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Couldn't agree with you more on Juno. Or less on Lust, Caution. But thanks for being more ambitious than I've been about sending in reviews. Not sure when you find the time. I haven't gotten to bed before 2 a.m. all week.
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I had a dog named Diablo and a cat named Cody.
If her middle name is "Nipper" I win $100. -
Who else gets frustrated by the "witty" dialogue writers, these days? The problem comes when witty dialogue becomes the only point of a conversation. You have to have "real-world" dialogue in order to make a "zinger" work in the first place ...
Hopefully, this film doesn't take it to an extreme. I like the talent involved, and I was a fan of Thank You For Smoking. -
I don't think she'd thank herself for smoking...
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Yummy.
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And then make her get an abortion, and then knock her up again, and then make her get another abortion, and so on and so forth.
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Uh.... you might want to look up the word classic. You know. Something that has endured over the time. Idiot.
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I laughed so hard at that kid. Good stuff. If Juno is as fun as FB'sDO, I'm in. FYI - A Juno is also the name of the Canadian music award. Like a Grammy. Coincidence? Yes.
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at a preview screening a few months back - it is a superb film. If Little Miss Sunshine can get people talking & get nominated for an Oscar, then Juno (which I feel is a better film) can do just as well. Ellen Page is smart and sassy, and man, can she deliver a one-liner. Props to Jason Reitman.
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believe me, i'm all bout bringing the funny. and i thought TYFS was hy-larious. but i get weary of the 'look at me!' brand of writing where every witticism plus the kitchen sink gets pitched in there. you want real wit? noah baumbach, donald ogden stewart, woody allen. the balance of humor and pathos, coz one without the other is just funny or sad, not the tricky in-between. ok i sound like i'm bashing a film i haven't seen, but i'm gunshy now!
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Now that's some great effin news, there.
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Now that's some great effin news, there.
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What the fuck is TIFF?
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Anyone know if this has any basis from the Korean film, Jenny and Juno? Just wondering from the uncommon 'Juno' name and the fact that it's dealing with teenage pregnancy.
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Anyone know if this has any basis from the Korean film, Jenny and Juno? Just wondering from the uncommon 'Juno' name and the fact that it's dealing with teenage pregnancy.
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yes this is a very late response but u are correct....its strange that the movie JUNO just came out and suddenly no one has a review or nuttin..i had to look back in the archives for mention of juno, funny how the movie reviews have been shelved and hidden to avoid the embarrassment for the "original" screenwriters first movie....its fittin that she was a whore for a year before writing this, oh wait im sorry "stripper" , same difference.....cuz she reached in the pockets of the people that wrote the original korean movie and lifted the idea, gave it an american twist, but still wasnt smart enuf to change the title characters name.....hasnt she ever heard of google ? i tried searching for this "great original movie" and guess what i found ?? "jenny and juno" from korea, which coincidently has the same premise, high school girl has an unexpected pregnancy,..and if u ask diablo cody, which must be her stripper name, said it was based on her life as a teen.....ok "diablo" u got busted, own up to the fact u plagiarized the korean movie to a certain extent, dot pull a screenwriting milli vanilli.....ur hot, u can still go back to stripping.....i got a pole right here u can slide up and down on...
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Jan 19, 2008 3:04:10 AM CST
Truthfully, the script isn't well-written and the direction at t
by noncents
So, why am I saying this? Actually, I gave the film a second chance and it wasn't as slangy and obviously forced as I thought; maybe that is a stretch, but it had good intentions. I had a backlash from the hype-whiplash, a necessary evil for a critical mind. I just didn't believe by the end of the film that there was a gem encrusted in the hip-speak narrative. Oh, and I loved thank you for smoking, but truthfully, nepotism isn't necessarily the best way to produce artists, but tis life.
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