I watched Juno the other night on TV, and found that the movie suffered from all the commercial breaks. I was reminded of why I generally don’t watch movies unless I’ve rented them and can watch them all the way through without interruptions. But there was nothing else on, and I had heard good things about Juno, so I gave it a try.
Mostly, it was quite enjoyable, but it was no Scott Pilgrim vs the World. Mike Cera plays the same guy, really, and I liked it. But it the movie itself seemed to smack of effort.
I like quirky. I really do. What a welcome relief from the bloodless pap we get from most movies, where cookie cutter characters act exactly as we expect and we get a satisfying formula ending. So I give Juno that. But the characters trying to “out cool” each other with copious references to artists like Iggy and the Stooges and Patti Smith made me roll my eyes. And obscure horror film references, too. Whoo! Hipster/Douche. Where’s the line?
Talk about hipster, the soundtrack has to die. It was all so contrived and interfered with my enjoyment of the movie. If only there were a few of the hipster type songs, instead of a whole soundtrack of the same kind of thing. Maybe I would have liked it. But as it is, I was just annoyed. This in no way applies to the Mott the Hoople/David Bowie song All the Young Dudes as heard on the trailer video.
Perhaps it seems like I only have negative things to say. Not true. The thorny issue of unexpected pregnancy was handled in a charming and realistic fashion. Overall, I enjoyed the film, but I wanted to warn about some of the things that I felt were its shortcomings.
Like the fact that the main character is mostly clever and funny, but often steps over a line and just becomes a smart ass that I want to smack.
Go see it. Judge for yourself.
Check out the trailer here:
But Enough About Me 
Posted on May 3, 2011
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