I am not afraid of Juno causing a rise in teen pregnancy; don’t think that I am starting with this statement out of left field. There have been plenty of critics of the film that have said dumb things like Juno being the impetus to teens having more sex. To me this statement proves that these people have not seen the film. Juno is a film about teen pregnancy; but more than anything it is about a teen that knows she made a mistake and decides to take responsibility afterwards by not aborting the baby or keeping it to raise, but making sure to give it a family that she knows will proved it a life she cannot achieve for the baby.
Perhaps my favorite part of Juno is not just the acerbic wit of the lead character (named after Zeus’ wife not the city) but the supporting characters around her: Leah the best friend, Mac her father, Bren her stepmother and Bleeker the father. Each of these characters is realistic in the way they respond to Juno’s plight and offer the support and love that I would hope any of my friends would get if they were in Juno’s situation.
When Juno comes running straight from the abortion clinic to Leah’s house and announces that she’s going to “stay pregnant” Leah quickly moves from freaking out about how this will change Juno’s life to suggesting to Juno how to find a quality adoptive couple for the baby. Throughout the rest of the film she is by Juno’s side through thick and thin when Juno tells her parents about her situation to the actual delivery itself.
Just as important are Bren and Mac Juno’s parents. When Juno tells them that she is pregnant they don’t tell though visibly upset, instead they step in to help Juno take her pregnancy seriously; Mac stays by Juno’s side through the adoption process right until after the delivery when he consoles her by saying someday she’ll have a baby when she’s ready to have one. After finding out Juno is pregnant Bren immediately jumps in to the mother role to her stepdaughter by taking her to the doctor, protecting her from the condescension of the ultra-sound tech and even screaming at the doctors to give Juno “the damn spinal tap” when she is in labor.
Then there is Bleeker, the father of Juno’s baby and the last person anyone expected to be able to get a girl pregnant. Bleeker is a relatively calm character who tries to stay by Juno’s side even when she pushes him away. To Bleeker Juno is still the only girl in the world and he doesn’t understand why she can’t see that. However, slow and steady wins the race and by the end of Juno’s journey she has realized that Bleeker is the best thing that could have happened to her.
Finally, we have Juno herself. While this character is an irresponsible teenage girl she proves more than capable of “dealing with things way beyond [her] maturity level”. She moves with absolute resolution from deciding to abort the pregnancy to staying pregnant and giving up the baby for adoption. Her wit and sarcasm are her greatest weapons that arm her to deal with the skeptics around her, and she seeks out not just a better life for the baby, but to find out her ultimate goal – who she truly is.
Juno is a quirky film that balances a peculiar sense of humor with a dramatic subject, but it is the heart of the movie that makes it truly shine. If Jason Reitman was able to make a “joyful movie about lung cancer” in Thank You for Smoking, then with Diablo Cody’s script he makes a warm-hearted film about teen pregnancy.
Director: Jason Reitman
Writer: Diablo Cody
Juno: Ellen page
Bleeker: Michael Cera
Vanessa: Jennifer Garner
Mark: Jason Bateman
Bren: Allison Janney
Mac: J.K. Simmons
Leah: Olivia Thirlby
Vanessa Loring: Your parents are probably wondering where you are.
Juno MacGuff: Nah... I mean, I'm already pregnant, so what other kind of shenanigans could I get into?
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Monday, May 19, 2008
Once
When I walked into Once for the first time I was skeptical; I had read a review calling it a kitchen-sink* musical and I did not think that could exist. For all intents and purposes these are two entirely seprate genres and should not be able to overlap; yet they do overlap and remarkably well I might add. Once breaks Hollywood conventions in many ways, and uses this to create a very real, relatable movie even though it is a musical, something that by definition should not be “real”.
The main characters in Once are real-life musicians Marketa Irglova & Glen Hansard (of The Frames), just as in the movie she is Czech and he is Irish and they wrote the music for the film together. In the film Marketa and Glen are never given names, but referred to in the credits as Guy & Girl. Their story is simple: they meet, fall in love but never do anything because she is married and he is pining for the girl that got away and then finally when the only intimacy they haven’t shared is physical they break it off and each move back into the correct direction for their lives: Guy to England to get the girl that got away and pursue his music and Girl with her family and blissfully happy with the last gift Guy gave her – an upright piano.
Once is billed as a love story, but in actually it is not Guy & Girl’s affection for each other that drives the film; what drives the film is their love of music. They are two individuals that find each other at the perfect time and push the other further into their music.
The first time Guy & Girl meet the only time Guy is comfortable playing his own songs on the street is when it’s night and fewer people are out, and those that are out aren’t paying attention to him; Girl appears seemingly out of nowhere and demands to know why he doesn’t play these songs more. She is persistant and demanding and exactly what Guy doesn’t want – someone who wants to know more about him. From there their relationship grows as she persistently shows up the next day demanding that she fix her vacuum, and before doing so he finally discovers her musical talent: piano.
However, Girl is an immigrant from the Czech Republic and is so poor that she does not have her own piano any longer, but has made a deal with a music shop owner that she can come in and play for an hour a day; thus, girl takes guy to the shop and plays for him and together the couple plays their first duet and their relationship becomes real for the first time as his suspicion of her completely evaporates. They have begun to share their souls through music and Guy again has a muse. They continue to work together, Guy giving her assignments to write lyrics for his music and Girl reprimanding Guy for not trying to get a recording deal until Guy finally jumps over the precise and decides to make a real demo with Girl’s help.
This movie is one of the most touching, inspirational films that I have ever seen. It is pure, innocent and passionate and is the kind of movie that Hollywood appreciates but has trouble making. Once was one of my favorite films of last year and it did win one Oscar (though it deserved more) for Falling Slowly as Best Original Song.
No one that I have met has regretted seeing this movie. I highly recommend it.
Writer & Director: John Carney
Guy: Glen Hansard
Girl: Marketa Irglova
Guy: During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen.
Girl: I listen.
*Kitchen Sink Realism: A film movement in Brittan in the 1950’s; realism films that depicted the poor & working class. The films took on the name Kitchen Sink realism after a reviewer coined the term and noted that most films had a scene in the kitchen; the films typically contained a male protagonist working to fight the constraints of society & its expectations.
The main characters in Once are real-life musicians Marketa Irglova & Glen Hansard (of The Frames), just as in the movie she is Czech and he is Irish and they wrote the music for the film together. In the film Marketa and Glen are never given names, but referred to in the credits as Guy & Girl. Their story is simple: they meet, fall in love but never do anything because she is married and he is pining for the girl that got away and then finally when the only intimacy they haven’t shared is physical they break it off and each move back into the correct direction for their lives: Guy to England to get the girl that got away and pursue his music and Girl with her family and blissfully happy with the last gift Guy gave her – an upright piano.
Once is billed as a love story, but in actually it is not Guy & Girl’s affection for each other that drives the film; what drives the film is their love of music. They are two individuals that find each other at the perfect time and push the other further into their music.
The first time Guy & Girl meet the only time Guy is comfortable playing his own songs on the street is when it’s night and fewer people are out, and those that are out aren’t paying attention to him; Girl appears seemingly out of nowhere and demands to know why he doesn’t play these songs more. She is persistant and demanding and exactly what Guy doesn’t want – someone who wants to know more about him. From there their relationship grows as she persistently shows up the next day demanding that she fix her vacuum, and before doing so he finally discovers her musical talent: piano.
However, Girl is an immigrant from the Czech Republic and is so poor that she does not have her own piano any longer, but has made a deal with a music shop owner that she can come in and play for an hour a day; thus, girl takes guy to the shop and plays for him and together the couple plays their first duet and their relationship becomes real for the first time as his suspicion of her completely evaporates. They have begun to share their souls through music and Guy again has a muse. They continue to work together, Guy giving her assignments to write lyrics for his music and Girl reprimanding Guy for not trying to get a recording deal until Guy finally jumps over the precise and decides to make a real demo with Girl’s help.
This movie is one of the most touching, inspirational films that I have ever seen. It is pure, innocent and passionate and is the kind of movie that Hollywood appreciates but has trouble making. Once was one of my favorite films of last year and it did win one Oscar (though it deserved more) for Falling Slowly as Best Original Song.
No one that I have met has regretted seeing this movie. I highly recommend it.
Writer & Director: John Carney
Guy: Glen Hansard
Girl: Marketa Irglova
Guy: During the daytime people would want to hear songs that they know, just songs that they recognize. I play these song at night or I wouldn't make any money. People wouldn't listen.
Girl: I listen.
*Kitchen Sink Realism: A film movement in Brittan in the 1950’s; realism films that depicted the poor & working class. The films took on the name Kitchen Sink realism after a reviewer coined the term and noted that most films had a scene in the kitchen; the films typically contained a male protagonist working to fight the constraints of society & its expectations.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Iron Man & Enchanted (part duex)
On Mother's Day it was my Mother's pick as to what movies she wanted to watch and though it's a little sad that she picked two that I have already seen recently I am happy to report that with repeated viewings neither Iron Man or Enchanted grew old.
Jon Faverau's film remains just as fresh, daring and comical as it did when I saw it the first time & Enchanted is just as enchanting.
It was a good Mother's Day for my Mom.
Jon Faverau's film remains just as fresh, daring and comical as it did when I saw it the first time & Enchanted is just as enchanting.
It was a good Mother's Day for my Mom.
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