Street Date: April 15

Official Synopsis:
Explore the outrageous "Junoverse" of the year's most talked-about comedy with this 2-Disc Special Edition of Juno - bulging with awesome special features to deliver hours of laughs and tons of feel-good fun! Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is a cool, confident teenager who takes a nine-month detour into adulthood when she's faced with an unplanned pregnancy - and sets out to find the perfect parents for her baby. With the help of her charmingly unassuming boyfriend (Michael Cera), supportive dad (J.K Simmons) and no-nonsense stepmom (Allison Janney), Juno sets her sights on an affluent couple (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) longing to adopt their first child.
  
Our Take:
Juno has to be one of the most controversial films to come out in some time. Not because of the subject matter (even though it does deal with teen pregnancy), no, the controversy comes from the script by Diablo Cody. Not since Lost in Translation have hardcore film fans so vocally debated the quality of a film’s script. Some say that Juno’s is contrived and overwritten, while others say it’s a great new voice in film. I say it’s a little bit of both, but even with its faults Juno deserved its Oscar nominations and is one of the best films of the year.

The film is basically about, well, Juno (no surprise there): a funny, smart, quick-witted teen (played by the incredible Ellen Page) who gets pregnant while still in high school. Instead of aborting the baby, or “nipping it in the bud” as Juno so eloquently puts it, she decides to have the child and give it up for adoption. So where does she look for parents for the kid? The Penny Saver. There we meet the seemingly perfect yuppie family played beautifully by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner. The film is essentially the story of these characters, and we watch as they are all forced to go through this experience together. The whole thing is told with an extremely clever sense of humor in a slightly altered state of reality, in the same vein as The Royal Tenebaums or Pulp Fiction; that stylization has been the main focus of the film’s praise and its contempt from film fans, especially in terms of dialogue.

Said dialogue is crafted in a super hip, trendy pseudo-Quentin-Tarantino style, with constant references to pop culture as well every character possessing the ability to come up with quick one liners at moment’s notice. Some complain that it’s forced and unnatural and I would agree that it does, at times, delve into a bit of self indulgence, but the film is done so well I find myself not caring. I think Juno walks a tight line between contrived and natural but the film pulls it off every step of the way. Frankly, no dialogue in any film sounds like real people. A screenwriter is meant to interpret the way people talk and put their own spin on it. It’s more like music then dictation, and I for one really dig Diablo’s sound. True she does use the word “blog” as an expletive, but I don’t find the dialogue any more contrived then a Kevin Smith film or a Tarantino flick. (What, you think hardened criminals really make Zatoichi and Woo references when they talk?) That aside, the dialogue isn’t what really made me fall in love with this film, it’s the characters.

For days after I finished watching the film the characters stuck with me. I just wanted to hang out with them and live in their world. Every character feels lived in; almost as if you’ve met them before or know someone who is exactly like that. The film does an amazing thing where, just as you think you know a character or have them pigeonholed, it completely flips them on you. For example, just when you think of Jennifer Garner’s character as this uptight yuppie, a subtle moment like her reaction to feeling Juno’s baby kick for the first time makes you re-think the character completely.

The direction by Jason Reitman is pitch perfect. He adds the right amount of style to the film without it ever really drawing attention to itself. Little touches like seeing the high school track team run in the background of a few scenes, the terrific sound track by Kimya Dawson that almost sounds like it’s been recorded on tape, or the title sequence done in a weird looking animation really gives the film a real life and warmth. Also I can’t forget to mention his amazing casting. This film had some of the best ensemble casting I’ve seen in some time.

They say that when actors excel at a role, you would have a hard time seeing someone else play the part. This is one of the few films where I couldn’t imagine another actor playing anyone in the film, from the mother and father played by J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney to the yuppie couple played perfectly by Jason Bateman and Jennifer Garner, and right on down to Juno’s best friend Leah, played hysterically by Olivia Thirlby. Each one of them just knocks it out of the park and truly encapsulates each of their characters. Of course there’s the fantastic performance by Ellen Page, but I’ll let the Oscar nod and the universal critical praise speak for itself. I would instead like to point out the brilliant performance by the king of bashful dorks, the boy wonder that is Micheal Cera. After his hysterical role in Superbad, he hits the comedy nail on the head again here. The first time you see the film he doesn’t seem to do much, but on the second and third viewing you really can see the brilliance in his subtlety. (Yes, I do mean brilliance, I’m not exaggerating.) Every line delivery is perfectly executed; he has this ability to make you laugh with the slightest of under-the-breath comments, and with just a look you can just tell exactly what he’s thinking. I know he’s getting some flack right now for playing typecast, but I think it’s just a matter of time before he breaks free of that mold and blows us away with a stunning comedic performance.

The Juno two disc DVD is loaded with special features. It has numerous making-of features, most of which are just praise for the filmmakers but sets aside some time for artistic insight. With the commentary and deleted scenes that don’t feel like a waste of time, this is pretty solid DVD. The star feature for me was the screen test which was done to help sell the studio on the cast. It gives a little insight on watching the actors develop the characters and the scenes.

* Way Beyond "Our" Maturity Level: Juno - Leah – Bleeker (9 minutes) – A feature discussing those characters and the actors playing them.
* Diablo Cody is Totally Boss (8 minutes) – Basically just praise for the writer and the script.
* Jason Reitman For Shizz (8 minutes) – The same as above but for the director.

* Gag Reel (5 minutes) – A gag reel that didn’t make me gag.
* Gag Take (2 minutes) – An attempt to try to do what they did on the Knocked Up DVD and have a fake argument on set, but not as funny as it should have been.
* Cast & Crew Jam (3 minutes) – Basically a music video featuring the cast and crew that has a slight charm to it.
* Screen Tests (22 minutes) –The star feature on this DVD

* Commentary by Director Jason Reitman and Writer Diablo Cody.
* Deleted scenes - With optional commentary by director Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody.

I can’t wrap Juno up simply. I can’t put some phrase on it saying, “if you like these kinds of movies, you’ll love this,” because so many times people I thought who would love the film hated it and people who I thought would hate the film loved it, so I’m just baffled. Really, I’m baffled with anyone who doesn’t like Juno. For me, it’s one of those films that reminds me why I love movies. Is it a perfect film? No. But is it one of the most touching, heartwarming, and wickedly funny movies to come out in a long time? Your bet your sweet blog it is. (Sorry, I couldn’t help but make one Bloggerlicious joke in this review. Wait, that’s two! SCORE!)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Overall Picture:
Movie: A+
DVD: A-

- Adam Rettek
Staff Writer