Validated

I was going to write a smart-ass little diatribe about my disappointment in Juno, but this J.R. Jones fellow from the Reader has already done so more civilly. Like a friend said, "It's like an episode of Gilmore Girls only more annoying." On the otherhand, Mr. Ebert thinks it's the best movie of 2007, and is sorely mistaken, in my opinion, when he says "the film has no wrong scenes."  One example that comes to mind is the ultra-sound gathering when the stepmother demeans and humiliates the medical technician.  It's cruel, unfunny, and in no way a "moment of instinctive, lightning comedy."  After that scene I felt indifferent about these people and all their snarky one-liners that followed.  Happy Valentines day!

Comments

[Marc Geelhoed]

Oh, but the medical technician had humiliated Juno! She needed to be brought down a peg or twenty. W/o the technician's preceding derogatory comment abt. Juno's choice of adoption, Allison Janney would've come off as mean, but instead she's protective.

[Bryant]

Does the technician really humiliate her, or does she show some genuine concern for the unborn baby? She shouldn't have assumed the worst of Juno, but like she said, she's seen this thing so many times before. *That* was an instinctive reaction, and she slips; the stepmother's was extremely cruel which was intended for some kind of comedic effect, but failed in so doing. imo.

Saying "stick to your own job" would've been protective, but then she kept piling on, which i think was mean.

[Bryant]

Also, I might add, Ebert once heavily criticized "Blue Velvet" because of the way Lynch treated the actress Isabella Rossellini on-screen. Says Ebert,

"I found that her scenes had an unexpected effect. I responded to their raw power, yes, but the more I thought about them, the angrier I got. He generates this immense and painful power, and then uses it merely as counterpoint to an immature satire."

That is exactly how I felt, especially for the actual Ultra Sound technicians who may have been sitting in the audience.

[czf]

but you can't compare juno to satire. it's never satire.

i think juno is occasionally mean-spirited and disheartening at times, it misses some notes and the dialog is childish. but for me it all fits into the story of a child who, as juno says, is forced to deal with events beyond her emotional development.
that's how it goes, sometimes.