Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Juno and Once

I saw Juno in the theaters a few days ago. Before going I heard a review that described the snappy dialogue as unrealistic and annoying. But you know I found it refreshing and enjoyable. Ellen Page, who plays Juno, is adorable and precocious. She is an extremely smart 16 year old who fools people into thinking that she is more mature than she actually is and then in the end we see her as a vulnerable kid. Besides the very funny lines of Juno I really enjoyed her regular girl interests -- she has a hamburger phone and wears grungy jeans with a flannel shirt. She reminds of my friends as a girl -- she's not a girly girl.

I also saw Once which I probably had unrealistic expectations of and found it not as compelling at first as I thought it would be but then by the end really appreciated the understated performances. These two musicians really acted like real people; they responded to embarrassing or sad situations like real people and they really seemed infatuated with each other. By the end, I compared Once to Juno and found it "realer" but maybe not as fun and seductive.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I saw both of these movies.
It's funny that you read an article on Juno that didn't praise it because of how popular it is now. I saw it and my first reaction was I didn't like it as much as I thought it was. I think I had really high expectations for it because everyone was recommending it. I did enjoy the wittiness of Juno and I love the guy who played her boyfriend (he's so adorably dorky) so that was fun to see them. But Jennifer Garner...ew. I really can't stand her acting skills and since she was playing such a meaningful character I was put off by the casting choice.

I saw Once with my parents in the theaters and had no idea what to expect. I really liked it though. It did feel real and the songs are beautiful. I bought my dad the soundtrack to the movie for Christmas!

Mary's List said...

The more and more I think about Juno the cuter it seems and less and less weighty,