Sunday, December 30, 2007

Movie Review- Juno

This a great movie about teen pregnancy. Ellen Page is awesome as Juno, a smart, funny, witty high school student. Micheal Cera, yes that kid from Arrested Development, is great as the baby daddy. After being disappointed with him in Superbad, this was a great role for him. The whole film is a great look at relationships varying from Page and Cera to Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman who play the couple who will adopt Page's child. In addition to Page, Cera, Garner, and Bateman, J.K Simmons and Allison Janney are great as the parents of Juno. Raine Wilson has a great little role at the beginning. So basically the entire cast is amazing. This is a hugely funny movie and one that I recommend to everyone. It kind of reminded me of a Todd Soldonz film, but not quite as messed up. It had that same honesty and reality that seems to be missing from many of the movies that are being made. Sure, Juno is really smart and witty, which may not seem like a typical 16 year old, but she could be a typical 16 year old, many are articulate and are not totally annoying. There is also a maturity that is nice to see as it seems most films treat teens as just interested in sex and drugs and alcohol.

So go see this film. No, you do not need to see it on the big screen, sure you can wait till it comes out on DVD, but if you want to get out of the house and see a good movie for a date night or a family outing, than see this film.

DISCLAIMER: This is not a typical family movie, but would work really well if your kids are older and/or mature enough to handle a movie about teen pregnancy even with the humor it is still about teen pregnancy. It also would be a great jumping off point for the discussion of teen pregnancy the different options available from abortion to adoption to keeping the baby.

1 comment:

Fran said...

I really really want to see this! Thanks for the review Boxer!

Happy 2008 to you!!