Juno Review

First a couple flaws that bugged me.  1.. Juno as well as other characters seem to have assimiliated too much pop-culture references from the early 60's through the 80s -- Rare that a 16year old would have a pop-culture reference library in her brain that would span over such a long time period. 2.  --  These kids don't have cell phones and aren't emailing or texting each other!!!!

Enough of that.   Juno has sass and attitude as a film.  It takes off and keeps going, unleashing a torrent of witty snappy dialogue and setting up fairly believable situations heading toward a remarkable though not quite old fashioned  happy ending.   

The film requires a powerful central performance and it gets one from Ellen Page as Juno.  She is part stand-up comic, part coolest center of the universe odd-ball kid, and part vulnerable teenager.   The story?   Juno likes a naïve track squad member Paul Bleeker (Michael Cera) and decides to take his virginity.  They make it on a big comfy chair and a few months later, Juno discovers she is pregnant.  She intends on getting abortion but then changes her mind and on her own finds a couple that might provide a wonderful home for her child and are willing to take care of all of Juno's medical expenses.   Of course that means that she has to tell her parents (J.K. Simmons and Allison Janney)  and everyone has to meet the adoptive parents, Jason Batemen and Jennifer Garner.  Juno's best friend is a quirky cheerleader named Leah (Olivia Thirlby).

I won't spoil the way all of this handled, the complications and what happens.  I assure you it's handled by the actors under Jeff Reitman's solid direction very well.  The characters are sharply drawn and have endearing qualities that never feel overly manipulative or too convenient.

The film seems a bit too smart-ass for its own good when it first begins.. but you quickly get used to and even enjoy that aspect of it.  Dialogue and character driven, Juno is a film that is probably worth owning and will be a favorite among teenagers for years to come.

DVD EXTRAS:

The special edition  features a special extra digital disc that is made to be downloaded to your computer (without copy protection)and then can be put onto your IPODS and portable devices with ease.  The additional disc has a couple of exclusive extras-but you'll pay around 10 bucks extra for the special edition and extra disc.

Commentary: Director and Jason Reitman and writer Diablo Cody laugh and joke and tell behind the scenes stories in a very entertaining commentary.  Reitman also points out some continuity challenges he had while making the film and how some scenes were written on the fly by Cody.

Diablo Cody is Totally Boss, is about the former stripper turned celebrated writer who worked well with Reitman and was a pleasure to have on the set while the movie was being made. 

Jason Reitman For Shizz,  is a we praise Jason the director and see him focusing on the film's tones and attention to reality.  

Way Beyond Our "Maturity" Level  is a little featurette about Ellen Page, Michael Cera, and Olivia Thirlby's abilities to act on a slightly more mature level thatis beyond their characters' ages. 

Deleted Scenes:
Twenty minutes worth deleted scenes.  Most were removed because they had a slightly different tone and feel than other scenes in the movie did and might have hurt the delicate balance the film has.  There's certainly a couple of scenes that would have drastically changed the mood of some sequences in the film and you can understand why it was wise of REitman to cut them out.

Cast and Crew Jam:
Goofy extra that shows cast and crew being silly in frontof a sparkly backdrop like they were making a music video.

Screen Tests:
22 minutes of dialogue screen test runs throughs.  Mostly of scenes you'll see in the movie, but done on a bare black staging area.   Somewhat interesting to see what a natural Cerra and Page were.

Gag Reel and Gag Take:
5 minutes of not too memorable goofs.  The Gag take is a funny put on that I enjoyed.. though it's only a couple minutes.

Disc 2 - The Digital Copy:

The extra disc with this set is an easily-transferrable copy of Juno you can put on your PC and assorted Apple iDevices.   It also has two additional exclusive features:

Honest to Blog! Creating Juno:
Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman, are in theater seats and they do a Q and A session with some scenes from the movie spliced into the conversation to illustrate what they are commenting on.  Much of the material and comments are similar to the voice over audio commentary.

3 Featurettes:  Diablo Cody, Jason Reitman, and  one on ; Page, Thirby, and Cera :
Each one lasts around 8 minutes and the combine interviews with on set moments of the subjects.   Quite fun featurettes.

BUYER BEWARE:  There isn't enough EXTRA value on the extra disc, unless you want to download the movie onto your i-pod...The special edition lets you do this without any other cost so if you wanted to do this.. it's probably worth it.  Everyone else..  the std. edition which included the extras noted above will be just fine for you.

GOOD MOVIE.. decent extras.