Juno

There are few films that will get me out to willingly to pay the exuberant amount of money these days at movie theatres. That said, I did go see Juno last night. Since late September of last year, I had heard many things, which were primarily good, about the film. How could I pass up the chance to see Jason Bateman and Michael Cera together again, this time on the big screen? If you all don't know already, the plot is about a teenage girl named Juno (Ellen Page) who becomes pregnant with Paulie Bleeker (Michael Cera).

The opening of the movie was a bit reminiscent of Napoleon Dynamite -- you know strange and quirky yet cute. Juno's character kind of reminded me of Joey Porter from Dawson's Creek. Okay, I should clarify by saying that the only similarity with Juno and Joey Porter was the vocabulary. So here we have a witty, off beat "strange" teenage (non-conforming) as the lead which I automatically grew attached to. Ellen Page did a fantastic job playing Juno.

Michael Cera's character was absolutely adorable as Paulie Bleeker, but it was the same kind of character Cera has been type-casted into: the awkward smart and lovable teenager who is sweet to the bone. For me, it is hard to imagine him as anyone else but George Michael Bluth (with his awesome Light Sabre skills). I hope to see him portray characters different from Arrested Development, Super Bad, and Juno in the future.

The movie was a short 1 hour and 30 minutes, with twenty minutes of movie previews and such, which brought the total time to sit on your butt for less than 2 hours. Part of the reason I have hard to going to see a movie in theatres is because of the cost and also because of the duration of a film. I'm not much of a fan when it comes down to prolonged films that seemingly drag out when it could have ended about 40 minutes ago. I think the producers and directors were able to wrap the film up nicely, allowing the characters to develop in such a short film. It was also nice to have a movie where it examines the relationship of the family with a pregnant teenage daughter, allowing Juno to make her own decisions and learning from her experiences, both good and bad. Juno captures many of the hardships and decisions of a young teenager. The movie captures the difficulties of teenage pregnancy and the process of adoption and the uncertainties of going forth with any choice at such a young age. Juno is far more realistic then Little Miss Sunshine, which was also released by Fox Searchlight. I love both films because of the dysfunctional, but loving, families portrayed.

I think most of my female friends would enjoy this movie.