2008 Woodie Awards
Oscar hopeful "Juno" pregnant with humor, baby
By: Lara Avery
Issue date: 2/1/08 Section: The Arts
This film also features a carefree, alternative soundtrack including The Kinks and Belle & Sebastian. The happiest song comes in the closing shot, where a baby-less Ellen Page and Michael Cera play "Anyone Else But You" by the Moldy Peaches as they sit across from one another with guitars. Instead of having to yell over the static of a baby monitor, Juno and Bleeker softly sing to each other in the summer sun because they are in love. Also, they can afford instruments because they don't have a kid.
As I watched them serenade each other, I reflected on the incredibly witty means by which these characters have reached their end. Apparently those unconventional means are the indie appeal of this flick, as it has grown into not only a box-office hit but an Oscar hopeful. Audiences and critics alike seem to love "Juno," perhaps for the feeling of relief they get when they realize that the teens get to rid themselves of the expensive and smelly result of their ordeal and return to self-actualization through other means-drinking clever slushies, wearing clever screen-printed shirts, and talking on that crazily clever hamburger phone.
The young mothers I know couldn't be more different from Ellen Page as Juno. They are robbed of their education, unhappy, and broke. Maybe if they could get a spare moment, this movie would cheer them up. Keeping in mind how differently Juno drives her situation and the film itself, Reitman and Cody might as well have made a movie about Ellen Page being overweight for nine months. I suppose they kind of already did that, and you know what? It's not bad.
As I watched them serenade each other, I reflected on the incredibly witty means by which these characters have reached their end. Apparently those unconventional means are the indie appeal of this flick, as it has grown into not only a box-office hit but an Oscar hopeful. Audiences and critics alike seem to love "Juno," perhaps for the feeling of relief they get when they realize that the teens get to rid themselves of the expensive and smelly result of their ordeal and return to self-actualization through other means-drinking clever slushies, wearing clever screen-printed shirts, and talking on that crazily clever hamburger phone.
The young mothers I know couldn't be more different from Ellen Page as Juno. They are robbed of their education, unhappy, and broke. Maybe if they could get a spare moment, this movie would cheer them up. Keeping in mind how differently Juno drives her situation and the film itself, Reitman and Cody might as well have made a movie about Ellen Page being overweight for nine months. I suppose they kind of already did that, and you know what? It's not bad.
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