Juno: A much needed breath of fresh air

Rating: 8/10 (3 January 2008)

In a year of cinema that seems to be stagnant as it pertains to original and moving ideas, Juno is a breath of fresh air. It's a warm and emotionally intriguing film that explores the physical, emotional and naive struggles associated with finding maturity in our teenage prime. Surprisingly, "Juno" is an acting master class. Ellen Page is simply extraordinary, and Jason Bateman is just the same. Ellen and Jason's efforts are fluid and genuine--both create a sense of natural sincerity that I found to be exceptional. Jennifer Garner's effort is strong, as well as the rest of the supporting cast. Right now, Juno is the best acted film heading into the Oscars (with the exception of No Country for Old Men).
Diablo Cody's screenplay is nearly perfect, with the exception of "quirky" overkill at times. Cody's conception of Juno is quick witted (among other things), and she has obviously built her screenplay around this specific attribute. Unfortunately, this led to excessive use of sarcasm and quirkiness with her main character, but never enough to take away from the creativity of the script. Don't be surprised to see Cody's script duking it out with others like "Charlie Wilson's War" and Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men" for best screenplay at the Oscars. It's that good. Cody's effort is one of the best I've seen since Charlie Kaufman's brilliant work on "Being John Malkovich" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind." The quality of Cody's screenplay slightly resembles (but does not compare to) that of Kaufman: her screenplay is the ideal embodiment of genuine character development. Her characters are direct representations of real people facing real problems, and the script is used magnificently to convey that fact. In a world of cinema ripe with Hollywood fluff, Cody (like Kaufman) develops her character genuinely and compassionately.
As far as the story itself is concerned, it's a great one. The movie is grade A material through and through, but can not successfully avoid cinematic clichés. These clichés aren't necessarily bad...they're most likely unavoidable more than anything. "Juno" will have just as much success (if not more) than "Little Miss Sunshine" had with awards last year. This film will suffice as evidence that truly talented filmmakers are lurking under the radar. As I mentioned previously (and must mention again), Ellen Page is absolutely remarkable in this film. Never before have I seen a young actress possess such talent on the screen. "Juno" is truly one of the best films of the year.