Juno* (2007)

WARNING: Mild spoilers ahead

The indie darling of 2007, Juno captures the horrifying awkwardness that comes with a teenage pregnancy. Critics all over the map gushed with praise for this film and it is understandable why many enjoyed it. There is a lot of good stuff to be found here. Balancing the drama of teen pregnancy with honest humor, Juno is a one-of-a-kind film.

Juno is a sixteen-year-old high school student in Minnesota who discovers that she’s pregnant after having sex with her best friend, Paulie Bleeker. They didn’t do it out of passion or love for each other though. A combination of boredom and curiosity led them to creating a child that is the center of this story. Juno first considers having an abortion but gets cold feet at the last second. Settling on giving up the baby for adoption, Juno and her friend Leah discover a potential couple in the Pennysaver ads.

Now, I don’t know much about adoption procedures but I have a hard to believing that finding adoptive parents through classified ads is a common, or even advisable, practice. But this is just one of the many quirky attributes and goings-on within Juno. The couple she finds seems nice enough and they’re even around an awful lot to chat with the mother of their soon-to-be child. Mark and Vanessa look like a really well put together couple on the surface but, as Juno grows to know the couple more over the course of her pregnancy, issues rise to the surface.

Juno’s family is another story. Her father and step-mother are just as quirky as she is but they react to her pregnancy in an almost too-good-to-be-true manner. They’re there to support her, which is good but the fact that they weren’t overly fazed by Juno’s announcement struck me as odd. But oddness abounds in this film. Some will find it endearing while others may think it unrealistic and not know what to make of it all. Paulie is the kind of socially awkward but well-meaning nerdy guy that would most likely have a hard time getting a date. Thankfully, he’s got a cute, indie rock-listening friend who was equally bored and curious one night.

While the writing may get a little overly clever and borderline Gilmore Girls-ish at times, Juno never completely overdoes it. The script manages to retain just the right amount of awkwardness to keep all the wit and snark in check. Relationships are always in flux, sometimes tested and other times just strained as Juno’s delivery date draws closer. It almost seems as if Juno develops a crush on her baby’s adoptive father, a part of the film that is extremely awkward to watch, but nothing inappropriate happens, which comes as a major relief.

In the end, Juno has a lot of heart. This is, along with its witty script, is what made this independent film such a success with critics and audiences. While Juno’s experience certainly is not the norm for teenage pregnancies, it presents the issue with an honesty and maturity that makes it more accessible to a wider audience. It’s not just a teen-pregnancy film or a coming-of-age film. Juno is a unique hybrid of comedy, family drama and several other genres that help to make a memorable picture.

RATING: 3.5 out of 5

Elektra (2005)

This is a confusing and confused movie. My expectations were low to begin with, as it is a combination sequel and spin-off of 2003’s Daredevil. Daredevil itself was underwhelming and uninspired but between modest gains at the box office and Jennifer Garner’s popularity from the hit show Alias, this movie was destined to be made. With alterations to the main characters back-story and a poorly thought out attempt at several layers of misdirection, Elektra fails to impress.

Jennifer Garner is a beautiful woman, which appeals to young men. Lots of martial arts action, violence, and high-energy stunt work also appeals to this demographic. Banking on a pretty face and some flashy stunts are poor choices for the foundation of a movie. I wasn’t able to determine if this film is actually based off any of the Elektra comics, but considering how very little praise it received from comic book enthusiasts (or anyone else for that matter) I would venture to guess that the story was written just for the film.

I have little to say about the acting because it was actually pretty good for a comic book movie. However, whatever good comes out of the acting is undone by the illogical choices and poor dialog given to the cast. They do their best with it but even they seem to be unsure of their words. This makes the whole package feel awkward and pushes it into the realm of silliness at times.

While the protagonists are sufficiently developed, though veiled behind the layers of misdirection, the antagonists are treated like disposable toy soldiers. They serve their purpose by creating a threat to Elektra and her goal, thereby acting as the impetus for a number of flashy displays of stunt work and CGI. They look mean and act mean, but their back-story and an explanation of how or why they have their supernatural powers is not explained. The only known motivation is that they work for the bad guy and like to hurt people. They’re not very deep, which is a shame. I tend to enjoy multifaceted, morally ambiguous villains.

All in all, the fight scenes go overboard and become the focus of the film. It really seems like the plot takes a backseat for about an hour and is used as a thin ploy to move between fight scenes. Then there is the hint at the end that the events of the entire film were part of a larger misdirection meant to teach Elektra some larger lesson in her ongoing training. This serves only to confound me further, because that implies the higher up good guys risked Elektra helping the bad guys at first. It’s all too much for anyone but comic book fanboys, and even they didn’t respond to this film favorably.

Eye candy aside, this movie is a stinker.

RATING: 1.25 out of 5