JUNO (Jason Reitman, 2007) **1/2

Rating: 6/10 (16 September 2008)

This film is a classic example of just how out-of-touch with modern cinema I find myself these days: while most critics seemed to fall over backwards in praising its simple qualities (a prerogative of so-called “Indie” film-making, and which here has more to do with a certain freshness of approach and the insight it gives into the problems effecting today’s youth than for any intrinsic artistic merit), I wasn’t sufficiently engaged in any of it to be more than slightly bemused by the plight of our spunky heroine. If anything, I was more concerned with the fact that a 16 year-old girl – and in her condition to boot – is allowed to drive a bulky motor vehicle!
Still, though about (and presumably aimed at) kids going through Juno’s same predicament i.e. the unforeseen repercussions of becoming “sexually active” at a tender age, the Oscar-winning script (by an ex-stripper!) is rather too smart for its own good: are we to honestly believe that girls so young could ever be into vintage Punk music and Euro-Horror films? Besides, it’s too often overwritten (being somewhat obsessed with product placement) – thus making the would-be authentic dialogue feel more than a bit awkward at times. The film, at least, is short enough at 96 minutes not to overstay its welcome…even if, in the long run, it’s mainly tolerable for Ellen Page’s genuinely disarming Oscar-nominated lead performance.
The other female characters that feature in the narrative tend to be outspoken (Juno’s stepmom), bossy (the intended adoptive mother for Page’s child played by Jennifer Garner) or kooky (the protagonist’s best friend). In this respect, our heroine’s symbiosis with Garner’s failed rocker husband Jason Bateman (from TEEN WOLF TOO [1987]!!) was a nice touch – though Juno’s own continuing relationship with the geeky boy who impregnated her isn’t exactly interesting or even credible. Finally, the whole is so obviously the work of an inexperienced director: in fact, he relies way too heavily on pop/rock tunes (via an admittedly eclectic, if occasionally bizarre, line-up) to expound on the characters’ feelings throughout – which, then, has the unfortunate effect of diluting whatever comment was intended to be made in the first place! Indeed, why do today’s film-makers keep shoving their musical tastes in our faces – especially when, as in this case, he (or any of his main characters) wasn’t even around when some of that music (for instance, The Velvet Underground’s “I’m Sticking With You”) was originally released?