April: Movie Reviews - Juno (Debut)

Flagging off to the start of the new & exciting MSR revolutionary revampment, allow me to reveal MSR's specially invited guest critic who shall be providing us with unique opinions on movies. This shall be her very own column featured in MSR, so do render your fullest support and provide feedbacks & comments if any.

Ladies & Gentlemen, allow me to introduce to you:

April!

Enjoy.

How do I start? Ok, let’s start with ‘hi, I am....’ you know what forget it. I’m just new to this whole ‘plan’ good ol’ MuHu came up with and I thought it was a fantastic idea to maybe, you know, be a flick critic. (I know some of you readers out there desperately need an opinion)

Well, so let’s start with one of the latest flicks I’ve caught – Juno. I lost count how many Oscars nominations they’ve got and how many they actually brought home; you can double check with MuHu for that matter. Well, in my books, it wasn’t exactly ALL that fantastic.

I’ve been a fan of Ellen Page since Hard Candy, The X-men (yes, she was the shadow cat! Meow!) and Mouth to mouth. She’s a breath of fresh air and I think she’s a rising star while the Olsen sisters or Lindsay Lohan take drugs and lose all the weight. Ellen Page is the girl to look out for in the coming years.

Before I carry on, Juno in a nutshell – An unexpected pregnancy left Juno MacGuff to make a huge decision whether to keep or abort until she found a young and childless couple whom she thought would make great parents to her unborn child and the story unfolds while Juno learnt that things don’t stay pretty forever and they’re not always what it seemed.

There’s definitely a Juno MacGuff in every highschool. She’s the independent tomboy and she simply doesn’t give a f*ck to what people think about her or what she does. She’s the drummer to the beats of her own life. Even when caught in a situation where most girls would mostly freak out, she dealt with it calmly just like a grown up. However, I’ve seen Page in much more challenging roles like Hayley Stark in Hard Candy, the girl who literally cut off balls. Hard Candy was one of those mindf*ck films that leaves you thinking for a long time. And THAT was what Juno lacked – the Wow factor. Maybe it’s just me but I strongly believe that Page can do much, much better.

Please don’t get me wrong, the film isn’t bad. It just wasn’t up to expectations. However, I was very impressed with the role Jennifer Garner took on as Vanessa Loring, the childless wife who just wanted a baby to call her own. I like Jennifer Garner ever since 13 going on 30. She’s just too cute to be acting Alias forever. (boooorrrrrrinngggggg) In Juno, she surprised me. It could be because her situation in the film was more convincing. (I mean, can you still face a teen pregnancy THAT calmly?) Ok, Garner was desperate for a baby but her husband wasn’t so sure if he’s ready but was eventually honest that he really isn’t ready to be a father. And for me, the most moving scene was when Garner held the baby in her arms and having to decide to raise the child all by herself. Now, that takes some courage and someone please give her a candy.

To sum Juno up with one word, I’d say – Cute. Who knows maybe Juno will open up the market for investors to cash in for low budget independent well-written films in the near future? Let’s just wait and see. Meanwhile just make do with the fluffs and make-believes. (:

XOXO,

April