I hated it, then I liked it ... but each time for the 'wrong reasons' ...

Rating: 8/10 (5 September 2012)

Anyone with an IMDb account is old enough to remember the phenomenon "Juno" was in 2007, much more than the independent-movie-of-the-year, it was an unidentified cinematic object buzzing in Hollywood's sky. No one saw it coming, a movie written by an ex-stripper with an allusive pen name (Diablo Cody), directed by a film-maker whose last name was more famous than the first (Ivan as Reitman Jr.), and featuring new faces, Ellen Page, Michael Cera who was not type-casted yet as the awkward-teenager. "Juno" was new and style-wise, it was clearly establishing its distance from typical teenage movies.
But I thought the film was needlessly excessive in its style, as if the director was obsessed with the idea of creating something hip, cool, pop, whatever. I couldn't get off my mind how atypical Juno was, and how typical her annoying best friend was, how overly nice were Juno's father and step-mother (Allison Braney) and how innocent was Paulie Bleeker, the unwilling father played by Cera. I thought the film was trying too hard to contradict all the teen- movies' stereotypes; and indeed, it was praised for that and I can see why  but I didn't feel its spontaneity, I thought it was like calculated, even formatted, as if beneath the script, there was a sort of Marketing Junior manager who made a brainstorm about 'How to create an original film'. I know it's supposed to be an independent production, but regarding its success, the story's sincerity should be questioned.
However, I didn't dislike the character either, there was something appealing that wasn't so obvious. I guess the film was like pregnant of its own emotional core, only visible after we get used to the characters. Take the idea of the passing of time, it's regularly suggested in the film through the seasons and the way nature influences the environment as much as Juno's learning process. The film is in fact, as moody, spontaneous and capricious as Juno's mind can get. And that's how I reconciled with its 'calculated' spontaneity and prefabricated wit. When I sincerely wanted to strangle one character or two, I realized it was part of the characterization itself. I thought the stepmother was too rude with the nurse who was obviously reacting to Juno's lack of emotional reaction, as I wanted Juno's stupid friend to shut her mouth or stop dancing in the hospital, but how many times did I have this feeling toward people in real-life.
I thought maybe this was the paradoxical nature of "Juno", to feel irritatingly real when it tries to be cinematically memorable  I used to think on the contrary that it was sometimes irritatingly cinematic when it tried to be realistically memorable. It showed off a lot, but it's almost forgivable as it's part of Juno's age. And this is what the film is, through a simple journey into pregnancy; it's the coming-of-age of an insouciant teen-ager, a girl of her era, facing the responsibility of an irresponsible act, as a major step in the adult world, while, she's as much a child as the little human being she carries. But on that aspect, the film deals with pregnancy much better than what I would have expected, and considerably redeems its flaws in my opinion.
Typically, I avoided "Juno", thinking it would be some kind of feminist preach for the right of women to dispose with her body. Well, "Juno" doesn't waste its time in the "to keep or not to keep" dilemma, it's pretty clear that for Juno, abortion doesn't rhyme with option. And don't get me wrong, I'm not a pro-life advocate but I'm tired of the constant trivialization of abortion in the name of so many human rights. I know a baby looks like a shrimp in the early days, but life is still big deal, and it's not a sort of take-it or leave-it package. Aborting in my opinion says a lot, about the consumerist attitudes that conduct our different choices, and the merit of "Juno" is to get its character surprisingly involved in the process of preparing a baby for a couple who wants to adopt.
"Juno", literally strikes by its conservative message through the powerful chronicle of an act of generosity, giving a proper meaning to the word 'carrying life' and marvelously incarnated by Jennifer Garner's performance, which should have earned her more accolades. Maybe, Diablo Cody is a ultra-feminist but then, she didn't use her character to make a feminist statement. Sure, men are not given very deep roles, and if the film is made by a woman who know about women, it should have given more depth to the male side, but still, it happens to provide a beautiful message about motherhood, even as something that shouldn't be taken for granted, but that exists in the heart of every girl: this desire to give life.
Garner plays with perfection the desperateness of a woman motivated to become what she believes is the reason-to-be of women, while her husband Mark still mourns his artistic dreams and develops a complicity with Juno, based on horror movies and punk-music, which says a lot about his degree of maturity. Characters do feel real after all, and at the end, "Juno" is not a plot's film; it's about a slice in the life of people far from being one-dimensional. I thought the film was trying too much to be original, smart, hip, cool, moody and spontaneous, but so was Juno  but there is a heart inside and it waits a little before blooming. I realized that when I saw Bleeker and Juno together and Juno crying, they still loved each other.
The so-called "Juno" effect makes me hope that the image of woman carrying life will never becomes old-fashioned or synonym of conservatism. Or maybe after disliking "Juno" for wrong reasons, I feel like like it now but again for the wrong reasons.