Lawrence plays piano
My name is Lawrence, and I play piano. I also write songs and they're o.k., and I love TV and movies. I'm originally from St. Louis, but I now live in Los Angeles, and I'm hoping soon to move (back) to Japan. If you send me an email, I usually write back.Subscribe to Lawrence plays piano by Email
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"Juno" Review
I don’t even know how to begin talking about ”Juno,” which (finally) opened in St. Louis yesterday. The movie is incredibly good. And not only that, it made me feel incredibly good. I heard the word ‘cute’ being tossed around a lot as I exited the theater, and it is. It is very, very ‘cute,’ but not in a traditional way at all. My mother, the self-proclaimed ‘queen of cute,’ would not approve of so much of what “Juno” has to offer. It is at times crude, vulgar, and perhaps even immoral. But it is so cute.
Ellen Page as Juno MacGuff beautifully masks the character’s vulnerability with her sophisticated vocabulary and knowledge of culture, but reveals it to the audience at precisely the right moments. Juno has a complete disregard—or even a complete ignorance—of social convention that makes her adorable, even when ranting about ‘pork swords.’
Michael Cera as Paulie Bleeker is almost unbearably sweet. In contrast to Juno, he wears his vulnerability on his sleeve. He is quiet and awkward, but unfailingly supportive. Bleeker shares a sentiment that anyone who has ever been a teenager with a crush can identify with. He is intimidated by Juno, and by his own admission, “tries really hard” to get her to like him. All the characters are well described and well developed stereotypes of people you know, and are written wonderfully.
Which brings me to the script. Blogger and author Diablo Cody will likely get a “Best Original Screenplay” Oscar nomination for “Juno,” and she deserves it. She has written dialog the likes of which have not yet been seen on screen, with youth and pop culture consistently infused throughout. With phrases like “up the spout,” and “douche packer,” and words that are commonplace with the Generation Y and younger crowd, much of it would be difficult for an older crowd to even understand, but enough of it is universal that the over-30 patrons in the theater were still enjoying themselves. This could be, however, a turning point in modern films. Previous high school comedies like American Pie, Napoleon Dynamite, and even as recent as Superbad, while relatable and quotable to exhaustion, never achieved the level poignancy that “Juno” has. The movie is not just a dumb comedy. Teenage pregnancy—and pregnancy in general—is an extremely mature (and coincidentally topical) issue, and “Juno” covers it with perfection. The complex emotions, the ups and downs, they’re all there; and while it does leave with a happy ending, it makes no illusion about the difficulties involved and the potential for disaster. I could go on, but I feel like a boy trying to describe his first crush to his friends. Do yourself a favor and go see Juno this holiday season. You won’t regret it.
