I guess today is the day that I should be reflecting about the past year and dreaming up silly resolutions for the year ahead. I try to be a little more practical in how I waste my free time. (which is why I think there should always be something educational or entertaining to read in the bathroom.) I would like to take a moment to reflect on last night which is about the extent of my attention span these days.
We don’t catch a lot of first run movies being that we live out in the boonies. Thankfully we have Railroad Square Cinema in Waterville which is about an hour away. Eventually most of the best indy films make their way to Railroad Square. Last night we caught Juno after my afternoon hockey game.
Juno is the best movie I’ve seen in many years. It is incredibly well written. The dialog is witty, often quick and very real. Juno was written by ex-stripper Diablo Cody. (No, she’s not a pit bull like our Cody.) I suspect we’ll see a lot more from her in the coming years based on how successful I expect Juno will be. IMDB.com says she was recently ranked #38 on Entertainment Weekly’s 2007 list of the 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. I’m surprised she’s not higher on the list.
While Juno features many notable cast members the standout performance is from Ellen Page playing Juno MacDuff. She’s a 16 year old junior in high school that finds out she’s pregnant after giving her virginity to Paulie Bleaker (played by Michael Cera) atop an old Lay-z-boy. Juno is the coolest high school movie character I can remember. (I don’t have a great memory so that’s not saying much.) She’s just so damn cool I think many young women will attempt to emulate Juno’s style and attitude, hopefully without the kid in the oven.
The soundtrack from Juno is excellent as well. The very final scene of the movie as the credits start to roll are Ellen Page and Michael Cera singing The Moldy Peaches’ song Anyone Else But You. As you walk out of the theater the fell-good sensation of this song wafts along in your wake on the way to the car.
Juno is one of those movies that tugs at your tear ducts and seconds later generates a bout of guttural laughter. The way the movie approaches teenage pregnancy as a subject might be a little much for bible thumping do-gooder whackos but I doubt they would go see this flick. If you don’t fit this description Juno might be a good prescription to cure the winter doldrums.
BTW, the previews for Girls Rock! look very promising too.