IMDb user comments for
Juno (2007) More at IMDb Pro »

Filter:

Best Chronological Prolific Authors Loved It Hated It Hide Spoilers:

Page 1 of 70:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Index

693 comments in total

---

426 out of 676 people found the following comment useful :-
Manipulative and Simplistic, 13 January 2008

Author: isabelle1955 from Brit living in California

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Look, I do get it. I fully appreciate that a film about a girl who gets pregnant, has an early abortion, then manages to move on, would be a pretty short movie. In fact, so short it wouldn't get made. No one wants to know about reality. And certainly in 21st century North America, no one wants to portray abortion as a viable option. Very, very bad form currently.

But when I see this film reviewed as "blazingly truthful" and the pregnant 16 year old central character described as being 'in a pickle', as I did in one review, as if perhaps she'd forgotten a homework assignment and might get detention, I have to admit that the cynic who lurks in my soul gets full rein. This is basically a cutesy film about being pregnant at 16, where despite a few problems, everyone gets to live pretty much happily ever after. Gosh, girl in a pickle comes good! Ahhh!! And apparently everyone in the cinema where I saw it was quite overwhelmed by attacks of the warm fuzzies, except me. Two seats away, a woman slightly older than me was weeping joyfully by the end while behind me, young women were giggling happily as sweet Juno's bump grew. Good grief! Is this really a message we want to give to 16 year olds?

I'm beginning to think I'm something of an oddity. You see, I don't find it 'blazingly truthful' that a bright, resourceful and articulate 16 year old as Juno is portrayed, would be so dumb as to have inadequately protected sex then seem surprised to find herself up the spout. One point of the script is that Juno herself apparently initiated the sex, thought it through in advance in fact, because she was bored. I therefore assume the pregnancy was at least to some extent planned. And if she really had no idea that sex might lead to pregnancy, her parents (portrayed as bemused but supportive), should be excoriated for such inadequate parenting. And if I see one more review which describes Juno as a comedy about growing up 'and the bumps along the way….' (I'm prepared to bet good money on that having been written by a middle aged man), I swear I'm going to run amok in the local mall with a urine dip stick. Being pregnant at 16 isn't a sweet joke, abortion clinics (whatever you think of their morality - and I'm neutral on that) are not run by morons, and while Juno has some amusing one-liners, and a good central performance from Ellen Page, it is basically a deeply flawed, superficial movie which is trying too hard to be cute. It's extremely manipulative.

I'm going to be very controversial and suggest that far from being surprised by an unplanned pregnancy, Juno might actually be a very willful young woman who wants to add pregnancy/childbirth/adoption to her 'experiments-in-living' list. At everyone else's expense. It certainly makes her the center of attention. She wouldn't be the first girl to get pregnant for that reason.

I found the situation between the adoptive parents more convincing. Childless Vanessa (Jennifer Garner) is desperate for a baby. Husband Mark is not so sure, and does at least eventually face up to the truth of his uncertainty by making a break for it. He may be 40 going on 18, but he's being honest about it. And for me the most moving scene in the whole film was when Vanessa held the newborn child in her arms for the first time, having decided to go it alone as a mother anyway. If there is a message to be taken from this movie, it's possibly that becoming a mother when the time is right, is just fine.

A superficial, cutesy, lightweight movie. The fact it was written by a woman is no excuse. I am gobsmacked that it's been nominated.

---

238 out of 347 people found the following comment useful :-
I want my 10 dollars back!, 30 January 2008

Author: Ivonamcgill from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I must be the only person who can honestly say I didn't crack a smile once throughout the entire movie. It was hard for me to smile because I was busy being irritated at the horrible dialogue and annoying "jokes" spewed out by Juno and her stupid friends. Perhaps the worst part of all was the irritating and unnecessary indie "girl with a guitar" music constantly fading in and out throughout the movie.

The pattern to "Juno" was more or less like this: "I have a hamburger phone" *insert music to show how quirky Juno is with her hamburger phone* "Umm dad I got pregnant" *insert music to show what a dilly of a pickle Juno is in* "Ah well, stuff happens" says the dad *insert indie guitar with girl singing about how stuff happens* So just imagine 96 minutes of that kind of manure.

I respect Ellen Page as an actress but this movie is just too annoying. The only part of the movie I really enjoyed and seemed to have any depth to it was the situation with the couple who wanted to adopt Juno's child and their relationship. They were complex and real, and actually made me feel really sad and pity them.

I read through some reviews and I do not see any connections between Juno and Family Guy humor. I love Family Guy, and Juno is nothing like it. If I had to compare Juno to any movie I would say that it's a failed wannabe of Napoleon Dynamite.

---

404 out of 685 people found the following comment useful :-
I don't buy it, sorry., 2 January 2008

Author: oddlaww from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This whole movie was just one big farce. A great representation of stupid trivial empty references and buzz phrases that I am sure we will want to forget ever existed in the next year or so.

I saw it as less of a "independent" movie (or any sort of attempt at social commentary, character study, creative screen writing, etc) and more of a way for a company to make some money off the idiots who buy into laughing at jokes based on things that exist in the current culture.

HAHA she said something about how she eats "Taco Bell" or HAHA she drinks blue slushie drinks or HAHA orange tic-tacs or HAHA she mentioned "blogs". HAHA THATS SO FUNNY HOW CREATIVE OF YOU! Its all pointless garbage that only tries to cover up the fact that this movie had no storyline, the acting was bad (and I mean bad because the cast portrayed characters that seemed basically written for them specifically judging from their other work) and the soundtrack was comprised of quirky-indie-folky three-chord acoustic guitar movie music 101 that is so far past the point of being contrived and unoriginal it bewilders me how anyone could think it is genius.

I found the jokes annoying, the dialogue extremely annoying and the main character Juno was the most shallow person ever with no regard for anyone but her own selfish "I think I know more than those big dumb uncool adults" mentality. You ask why everyone in school is staring at you? Its because you are purposely making them stare at you by eating in the trophy case with your giant pregnant gut intentionally sticking out of that outfit next to your cliché "mountain of food" wrappers strewn all over yourself and said trophy case! As someone else said, the mentality of the screenwriter is that she not only owns a hamburger phone, but she WANTS everyone to know that she owns a hamburger phone! How can someone make such a desperate cry for attention but then shun everyone when they pay attention? It is all too forced and perfectly executed where I would ever believe that this was truly just a story written to warm people's hearts. This was just an example of how nowadays, everything is fair game for corporate rape; even hamburger phones and unknown-to-the-mainstream folk bands like the Moldy Peaches.

The public is buying into it, falling for it and just contributing to the further stupification and ignorance of everyone. It's a disgrace of a film and an insult to people who really work hard to CREATE THEIR OWN meaningful independent films. This writer just stole the ideas, subjects, personalities, words and lines from things created by people other than her so she can go buy a nice luxury house and live off the earnings fed by the sheep who hail this movie as brilliant.

You want to tell the already-rich vultures banking off this film how much you like to be controlled by them?? Go see this movie.

---

155 out of 197 people found the following comment useful :-
about as indie as Avril is punk rock, 21 February 2008

Author: ceburo from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

I rarely post things on internet blogs but this is a bit of a concern of mine. I am worried that beautiful films such as L'Infant are going to now be classified in the same category as Juno. I understand the mass appeal of this movie-- the mainstream audience being confused and thinking it's an indie flick by the gritty film used and the obscure references but Juno is in no way an independent film. I think why it is so ineffective is because the audience it was trying to attract (the movie fanatics who hate big budget Hollywood junk i.e. anything with Jessica alba in it) saw it for what it really was: Hollywood junk wrapped up in a converse shoelace bow. It was as indie as Avril is punk rock.

Furthermore it is (in my opinion) a tasteless, pointless movie. For the majority of the film I am more annoyed with Juno than I am sympathetic to her plight. I also have a hard time relating to her as she is NOT a 16year old but rather a 35year olds characterization of a 16 year old (does this make sense?) I have NEVER heard a teenager / young adult in my life ever utter ridiculous lines such as "honest to blog?" or "yea I'm total for-shiz". What the hell? I thought maybe a stripper turned blogger would have been a little more able to develop a story with characters that are down to earth but this Juno character is absurd.

Plus the rest of the film is completely underdeveloped-- you never see the relationship with her stepmother develop or understand why it is the way it is. Her relationship with bleaker has maybe 25 minutes but it is in no way a developed understood relationship. In fact he's barely even seen! The summary of the movie includes the words "and with her beautiful friends help…" but in the movie there is absolutely no connection with her friends beauty and the relevance of it. Was there supposed to be some conflict? All these story arcs that were never completed.

I was very disappointed with this movie. Fox searchlight has produced many good films (notes on a scandal, little miss sunshine, the last king of Scotland, etc) but this is just an embarrassment. It wasn't as though the actors were bad-- Michael Cera as usual plays the adorable awkward adolescent and Ellen page, Jason Batemen, Jennifer Gardner, etc play their roles respectively but the whole premise of the movie was so over the top and unrealistic. Oscar worthy? It's ludicrous. This is a movie worth missing.

---

222 out of 332 people found the following comment useful :-
Don't Believe the Rave Reviews, 26 December 2007

Author: (moody308@live.com) from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Listen, I love Diablo Cody. I've read her book, watched her on Lettermen, and quite honestly, I would do her upside down.

But "Juno" misses the mark and it's largely Diablo Cody's fault. She simply cannot write dialogue. In this mess-of-a-film, the characters are indistinguishable because they all have the same snappy wit. Sure, the actress who played Juno (Ellen somebody) was absolutely tremendous. What was unclear was why the father--Justin Bateman--abruptly decided to leave his wife. To potentially hook up with Juno, who was somewhat of a younger physical version of his wife? And why was Juno's stepmom in the maternity room when the baby was being retrieved by the adoptive mother? Diablo, please stick to writing snappy, coming-of-age books.

---

184 out of 264 people found the following comment useful :-
Possibly the worst film ever made!, 17 February 2008

Author: Misfitfiend1989 from United Kingdom

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Juno is probably the most over-rated film I have ever seen! From the moment go when I was told that this film was about a pregnant teenager, i was put off, like we need reminding anymore about the problems of teenage pregnancy! But I thought, if everyone is saying how good it is and the fact it is Oscar nominated i'll give it a go.

From the opening sequence I knew I was wrong to ever think that this film might be enjoyable viewing. Juno as a character is possibly the most arrogant and annoying I have ever seen, and this is supposed to be funny? I no that if I had been a teenage mother I would never waslse around like an ungrateful little b**ch especially to her step mother who is there for her all the way.

I also hated Jennifer Garners character and her husband once again annoying characters that make uncomfortable viewing. You feel as if you should turn this film off as it is probably the biggest waste of 96 minutes ever.

As a group viewing this film, I thought that I was the only one that disliked it until it finished and everyone else was thinking the same as me. That we were all considering giving it 2 or 3 on IMDb if the ending was any better than the overall film. Which it wasn't, that was as dull and unrealistic as the rest of the film.

I think apart from when the film ended the best part about it was the hamburger phone.

---

200 out of 296 people found the following comment useful :-
there was something to like in this movie ???, 20 February 2008

Author: progmetal from Chicago, United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

How original. A teenage girl who has the "old soul" vibe to her and for no explained reason has knowledge of '77 Punk though she was born in the '90's and her dimwitted blonde friend sure doesn't know who Richard Hell would be. This movie is almost a slap in the face to anyone who has a good set of morals. Her "only" options are to go to an abortion clinic or give the baby up to spoiled yuppies? The basically uninformed and shy Michael cera has basically no say in anything until all her options run out and then she "decides" that they must have been in love all along. And the comments she makes while getting her ultrasound are borderline offensive and her mom had no right to stick up for her daughters constantly talking and babbling mouth. The fact that ANY teenager would actually act and talk like Juno is a farce. She even keeps stopping by the adopters house unannounced and basically hitting (or flirting) with Jason Bateman who is supposed to be adopting this baby! And OF COURSE the parents are not only supportive but have plenty of wacky looks and one-liners themselves. The soundtrack is even worse then the crappy dialogue in this movie. I left this movie feeling insulted and the lack of 'moral' to this story is ????? That you try two different ways to ditch your own kid (who she always refers to as "it") and when nothing works you go to the original father and say "lucky you"! Even the sex that took place was non-emotional and scary to think that high schoolers would just do it so casually like that. And why are people putting associating the word "indie" w/ this movie? It has major stars in it and looks pro. If I could of ripped my head from my body and thrown it at the screen in order to get this movie to stop I would have. Ellen Page deserves cut-out bargain bin for this movie not any awards. Her performance was of utter annoyance. Maybe the "american pie" movie crowd likes this but if you are a true lover of film....skip it!

---

146 out of 190 people found the following comment useful :-
Not funny!, 3 February 2008

Author: fredman5555 from United States

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Not funny! Don't waste your time and money! If you've seen the previews, you've seen the funniest stuff in the movie (and by the time you hit the movie, those aren't even funny anymore though evidently some of the people in our theater thought they still were)! Overall, our theater was pretty quiet!

The acting itself was very good -- probably the only reason I could rank it as high as five, and there was one excellent piece of advice offered to Juno by her father (seen in the previews when he said she should find someone who loves her for who she truly is), but beyond that, it wasn't worth the time! Otherwise, the overall plot was not terribly believable, and the humor just wasn't there!

Summary: 5 out of 10 for positive acting skill and mild humor but lack of believability and lack of seriousness or stress in a situation which would prove very stressful.

---

191 out of 280 people found the following comment useful :-
Retarded, 3 February 2008

Author: ecehaic1 from Croatia

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This is one of the worst movies I've seen recently. If you saw a trailer for it, no need to see the movie. Everything from this movie can be summed in two minutes.

Also, after about two or three minutes of the movie, you can guess with a 100% certainty what will happen next - and how this movie will end.

I would say that acting of the main character Juno (Ellen Page) is closer to pretending than acting.

If you are 12-14 years old or if you like two hours of dialogs between spoiled American teens, maybe you'll like this movie. I certainly don't.

This looks like a longer episode of teen series, like Beverly Hills, Dawson's Creek or One Tree Hill.

---

163 out of 225 people found the following comment useful :-
Overrated, 19 February 2008

Author: sk8alypse from Canada

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Having been recommended this movie by quite a few people, I had fairly lofty expectations for this movie. Boy was I highly disappointed. This movie was really boring, especially towards the end where I was practically falling asleep, and this wasn't due to a lack of sleep! The dialog in this movie is what makes it boring ... a pure sleeper!

The acting was average at best. Ellen Page's performance gets pretty annoying after about 10 minutes, further ruining the viewing experience.

Furthermore the movie was way too long. Perhaps if they shortened up the dialog and added some more action into it, it would have improved it.

In terms of novelty, there is none. The movies adds nothing to previous ones in the genre.

---

---

Page 1 of 70:

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]

Add another comment

---

Related Links

Plot summary	Plot synopsis	Ratings
Awards	Newsgroup reviews	External reviews
Parents Guide	Official site	Plot keywords
Main details	Your user comments	Your vote history