Despite my good intentions, I only made it to the cineplex twice during my holiday break. What follows is my take on the two films I witnessed.
Walk Hard
Silly good fun is to be had in this parody of the cliche-prone music bio-pic genre (more specifically, the overly praised Walk the Line). Walk Hard was brought to you by the suddenly prolific Apatow crew. I'm guessing the remarkable success of Knocked Up has given Judd green light privileges ad infinitum—or at least until his predictable future downslide into drugs, dildos and despair.
John C. Reilly is pleasing, as always. He plays a kind of musically gifted Gomer Pyle who struggles with childhood misery before a rise to fame, followed shortly by a decline into drugs, dildos and despair. Jenna Fischer does a very nice job de-Pamming herself in the June Carter Cash-ish role. Nice to see so many Groundlings and SNL cast members getting screen time, too.
The humor is Zucker Brothers-esque (think Airplane, although it doesn't soar to those heights). The music is polished and pleasing. The performances are very charming. In summary, if you want to see a movie that will require little else aside from toe-tapping and knee-slapping, Walk Hard is for you.
Juno
While I had sworn on a stack of IUDs that I wouldn't see Juno until it hit DVD due to its exhaustive over-marketing, I ended up buying a ticket for it on a whim.* I'm really glad I did.
Juno wasn't the joke-a-minute quirkfest I'd expected from the trailer that ran ad nauseum. The film actually has a very sweet heart to it. Diablo Cody, the former stripper who penned the script, should be a proud movie mama. Based on the smart, fresh humor her dialogue** exhibited, I bet she'd be a lot of fun to hang out with—potential lap dances aside. Juno offers an appealing lo-fi soundtrack and animated title sequence, too.
While the lead actress, Ellen Paige, is getting a lot of well-deserved praise for her turn as the knocked-up teen with deadpan (labor and) delivery, I was also impressed with adoptive mother Jennifer Garner. She walked the line between annoying up-tightness and motherhood-melting sweetness very nicely.
*On a whim = Being too buzzed to leave the theater complex after two post-Walk Hard glasses of champagne quaffed in the company of the famed Skinny Arbuckle.
**I've heard a few people complain about the self-conscious cleverness of the Juno script. Yes, it is heavy-handed in the quirk department. No, there is no real teen (or adult, for that matter) who talks with that kind of crazy-high batting average of smart/funny/pop culture-reference-packed pronouncements. Yes, the scenes where Jason Bateman's character bonds over music and horror films with Juno are self-congratulatory overkill. Yet...yet. Unlike the quip-spewing Gilmore Girls, who I could never bear, I wish the girl named Juno was real. Some of the stuff she said is like the stuff I think, but don't say because it's way too eccentric. The dialogue will annoy many, decidedly (mostly dudes who won't have the patience for it). But I think it's worth suspending a little disbelief to enjoy the ear candy.
7 comments:
Nictate, what did you think of the ending of Juno? I found it surprising, because it seemed to me that the film had been setting up something entirely different. But now I think that I had just misjudged where the film was intending to go. I can elaborate, if you don’t mind spoilers in your blog comments.
I was surprised, too, but pleasantly so.
Feel free to elaborate with spoilers and all, Mathew. I'd like to hear your thoughts.
I thought the film was hinting that although Vanessa (the Jennifer Garner character) sincerely wanted to be a mom, she would not really be good at parenting; perhaps because she wanted it too much. For one thing, it was clear from the outset that her husband was not entirely keen on having kids, and Vanessa was oblivious to that. Then there was the scene where Juno brought over the ultrasound pic and Vanessa almost flipped out, asking “what’s wrong; is something wrong?” I thought that the film was suggesting there that she would be the type of parent who drives her kid crazy by always assuming something has gone wrong, with no rational basis.
So that’s why I was surprised at the end when Juno still wanted Vanessa to be the baby’s mom as a single parent. (I guess the turning point was supposed to be the scene at the mall where Juno and Leah, from the mezzanine, see Vanessa with the kids in the play area.)
This isn’t a criticism of the movie, just an observation on how I misread it.
Thanks for elaborating, Mathew.
It's true, Vanessa is totally the type of mom to drive her kid crazy by being controlling and neurotic. After all, her husband was a kid in a way and she drove him crazy (and out of the house).
You're right about the turning point in the mall. A friend and I were discussing that scene. At first Vanessa is really uptight and awkward and it is uncomfortable to watch, then comes the moment where she softens and you can totally see the baby love in her.
If I was to try to read Juno's mind as to why she still decided to go forward with the adoption, despite the fact that she knew Vanessa was so uptight and suddenly single, I think it was because of that moment in the mall and the longing in that moment. It's a credit to Jennifer Garner that that scene works as well as it does. It would've been easy to blow it by going too big with emotion, but she played it just right.
And there must've been something sympathetic/symbolic in Juno's act in reaction to Vanessa's husband bailing on her. Juno clearly disapproved of the husband's decision/motivations and didn't want Vanessa to lose another chance at a child because of him. Juno losing her own mom must've had something to do with it, too.
I have to admit that I got teary-eyed when they showed Juno's note to Vanessa framed in the baby room.
One thing really appealing about the film is that it doesn't take predictable plot paths. That was refreshing. For instance, I thought the Jason Bateman plot might end up with him successfully pursuing Juno. It was a relief they didn't take that route.
Good point about Jennifer Garner’s performance in the mall scene.
I thought Jason Bateman’s performance also was excellent. I didn’t predict at all that he would turn out to be a thorough asshole, but it’s consistent.
Based on the trailer, I had thought the movie would end with Juno and Paulie raising the baby; I’m glad they didn’t go that route.
I agree, it's great they didn't take the route of Juno and Paulie raising the baby, too.
Jason Bateman did do a nice job. He didn't rely on his typical Jason-y mannerisms, which probably took some effort. I didn't see the asshole thing coming either. I guess that's another tribute to the freshness of the script.
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