Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
JUNO (Jason Reitman) - BIG
NIGHT PARTY - Starz DENVER Film Festival 2007
After creating a new formula for laughing at
the darker sides of life in “Thank You For
Smoking,” director Jason Reitman is back
and jumping high and wide over the sophomore slump
with what is expected to be a comedic must-see,
“Juno.”
Juno MacGuff, played by the stunning Ellen Page,
is a 16-year old that considers herself to be
one of the smart but weird girls in high school
that jocks can’t help but have a secret
attraction to. But for a moment, her heart and
body lied with her quiet, nerdy best friend who
is a boy, a pseudo musician, and a Dancing Elk
track team member named Bleeker, played Michael
Cera of “Superbad” fame. An overstuffed,
dated and worn barker lounger is where the “first
time” happened, and now she sits and stares
at it sitting in the yard, contemplating the aftermath
of what happens when birth control is not involved.
After downing a good sized bottle of Sunny D
and running three pregnancy tests, the verdict
is in: she’s pregnant. The opening segment
is colorfully animated, but not in the Interpolated
Rotoscoping, and the poignancy throughout the
film is accented by the quirkiness of Moldy Peaches’
musical glitter.
Yes, teen pregnancy is no laughing matter really,
but in this setting, the writing takes us from
one moment of laughter to another as Juno forms
a noose out of licorice, biting at the rope of
sugar to release herself; calling the women’s
pregnancy help line on her hamburger phone; and
then giving her best friend the news, who aptly
responds with a, “Honest to blog?”
The character of Juno is, by all accounts, a
complete smart-ass, but Page’s delivery
is so smooth and matter-of-fact you can’t
help but be drawn into the dynamics of her life,
including how she sees the world. After running
into a classmate Su-Chin at the woman’s
clinic, who is protesting outside with a sign,
“Let babies be bored! Let babies be bored!”
and experiencing an indifferent clinic worker,
Juno decides to have the baby and give it up for
adoption.
Right in line with the tone of the film, she
finds her ideal couple in the Penny Saver, right
next to an ad for exotic birds. The big step is
telling her parents, who after receiving the news,
are obviously disappointed. In that wry and dry
way, they had hoped it was something less severe,
like a drug problem or a DUI. But they are supportive,
and as their characters begin to show their colors,
it is clear how each of them, in their own way,
contributed to Juno’s unique and quick witted
nature.
The adoptive parents are Mark and Vanessa Loring
(Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner), living in
the upscale suburban life in the 3,000 sq. ft.
home in St. Cloud. Vanessa is the eager mother,
in charge of the house and how things are run,
and Mark is the guy who has lost his identity
along the way, sequestered in his studio making
jingles, right next to his Melvins 7” and
back-in-the-day memories of a time when his opened
for the punk pioneers. But it is Mark who becomes
the only person that Juno can relate to and bond
with during this trying time, and she often seeks
refuge in their discussions on music and who makes
the best horror flicks.
Reitman uses a creative array of metaphors throughout
the film, some that may not make sense right away,
but the most obvious is the changing seasons to
mark the stages of Juno’s pregnancy. We
also see the school’s Dancing Elk running
team making appearances throughout the film, a
constant reminder of the boy who Juno has decided
to keep out of the picture.
Juno’s life begins to unravel as the marriage
between Mark and Vanessa proves to be on shaky
ground, but as this character has done in every
other situation; she is able to come to important
realizations and decisions that prove to be the
right ones in the end.
I can’t say enough about the writing and
acting by every character, including Cut Chemist
as the, get this, chemistry teacher; Allison Janney
as Juno’s stepmom and her handling of the
ultrasound technician; and even the appearance
of Rainn Wilson’s (The Office) part as Rollo,
the convenience store clerk who is the first to
find out about Juno’s pregnancy, as she
emerges from the store’s bathroom with the
plus-signed results.
There is no doubt that many, many people will
not only see this film multiple times, but will
continue to quote script lines long after the
lights come up.
Juno is the featured film for the Big Night at
the Starz Denver Film Festival, Saturday, November
10, 8:30 PM - Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
For more information on the schedule and all
the wonderful films showing from November 8 through
November 18, go to www.denverfilm.org/festival.
-Kim Owens, November 8, 2007
FILM
Buzz > ARCHIVES
Kaffeine Buzz
reviews independent and foreign films,
in addition to reporting the latest buzz behind
Colorado's film festivals.
Starz DENVER Film Festival
2007 Preview & Picks
Art imitating life.
It’s a saying that has proven to be true
time and time again, and you’ll see it in
all the faceted reflections of our lives, past
and present when you view the extensive line of
up 178 films, which will make it to screens during
the 11 day Starz Denver Film Festival.
From the move the war coverage has made from
television to film, the intricate animation productions,
romance and brilliant comedy, to women who are
beating the odds and changing the political landscape,
and documentaries that provide a new way to see
and know the world around us. In a nutshell, there’s
something for everyone.
Here are our festival picks:
Honoring Film Directors and Film’s
Past— “Tribute: Stephen Goldblatt”
with screenings of “Angels in America”
and “Closer”; the 40th Anniversary
of the “Heat of the Night”; the 20th
Anniversary of “Moonstruck”; the 1966
film “Blowup” by revolutionary filmmaker,
Michelangelo Antonioni; Ingmar Bergman’s
1975 “The Magic Flute,” which was
the first adaptation of an opera; the 1972 classic
“The King of Marvin Gardens” by renowned
cinematographer of over 70 films, László
Kovács, starring Jack Nicholson, Bruce
Dern and Ellen Burstyn; along with “Clint
Eastwood: A Life in Film” and an up-and-close
portrait of the eclectic, creative, cult classic
film pioneer David Lynch in “Lynch.”
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