Movie Review--Juno

Okay, so I promised a review of Juno as well. Here it goes.

I'd never heard of Juno until it was released for sale on DVD at Wal-Mart. Obviously I was intrigued by the cartoonish drawings and the largely preganant girl on the cover. Plus, like several people, I am intrigued when something takes the country by storm. It just takes a little longer for the storm to get to me.

The clincher was when I received a copy of Writer's Digest a few months ago. This particular issue sported a picture of Diablo Cody (author of Juno) on the cover. Of course, I had to read the interview. Cody has lived an interesting life. Then, like the sell-out that I sometimes am, I had to go out of rent her movie.

Initially, I had my doubts about Juno. Teen pregnancy movies (well, any kind of pregnancy movies, or comedy, or drama, or romance), typically aren't my style. I go for action movies and the occasional "thriller," but even at that I'm pretty choosy. My favorite part of Juno was the intro, if that tells you anything. The rest of the movie was cute in parts, sad in parts--you know, your typical comedic manipulation. But all in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected.

Having never read the book, I don't know if I should attribute this compliment to Cody or the director, but somebody did a great job of capturing the attitudes and dialogue of a sassy, unconventional 16-year-old.

I know I don't have much to say about the film, but really, what can I say? It's about teen pregnancy--but the cover art of the box will tell you that. If I say much more, it will give away too much of the plot. If you like the idea of seeing what a sassy 16-year-old will do about an unwanted pregnancy, and if you like the concept of awkward teenagers trying to figure out love, and, oh yeah, if you like pop culture references in your teenage coming-of-age comedy/drama movies, then watch Juno. If not, then just read an IMDb synopsis.